Defendant Stephen Dunbar, a former member of the Board of Directors of NOCAL, and nine others were arrested early February this year and charged with economic sabotage, bribery and criminal conspiracy for allegedly illegally using funds belonging to NOCAL.

According to state lawyers, the motion to dismiss the indictment is an admission that he was a member of the Board of Directors of NOCAL at the time of the commission of the felonies as clearly stated in the indictment for which he should be prosecuted.
 
They added that the court should deny the motion to dismiss the indictment filed by the defendant.

Defense lawyers argued that the motion to dismiss the indictment against the defendant should be granted by the court because Dunbar ceased to be a member of the Board of Directors of NOCAL in 2007 and hence his defenses are different from the other defendants.

In the motion to dismiss the indictment filed by Dunbar , defense lawyers said under section 4.2 sub-section of the Penal Code of Liberia, prosecution of any non-capital offense must be conducted in five years after an individual is suspected to have committed a crime.

The motion to dismiss the indictment further said that the alleged felonies were allegedly committed between May 2006 and May 2007, and that prosecution of the alleged offenses should have commenced during May 2007 and tried no later than May 2012, five years after the commission of the crime.

Meanwhile, Presiding Judge of Criminal Court “C” in Monrovia, Peter W. Gbenewelleh, has set final ruling in the case for Friday, June 5.
LINA CMJ/TSS/PTK