MONROVIA, December 24 (LINA)-The head of Prison Fellowship – Liberia, Rev. Francis Kollie, has expressed gratitude to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for granting clemency to the 32 inmates.
He promised that his organization will work in rehabilitating the freed inmates and teach them skills so that when they are fully rehabilitated they can go into society and contribute to its development.
According to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberian leader effected the Presidential Clemency on Tuesday, December 23, when she paid a regular pre-Christmas visit to the Monrovia Central Prison to express her usual concern for those citizens who are in prison.
Usually, it’s an opportunity to the Liberian leader to use her discretion to grant pardon to some of them. There are 834 inmates confined at the prison. Those who benefited from the Presidential Clemency came from the Monrovia Central Prison and other prisons in Lofa, Bong, Maryland and Grand Gedeh Counties.
The inmates charged with various crimes ranging from rape, statutory rape, manslaughter, murder, burglary, armed robbery, criminal facilitation, attempted kidnapping, and drug related crimes were released based on medical conditions, age, exemplary conduct in prison, while others have served nearly all their sentence with a few months remaining.
Among them are Allen Rogers (65) who was serving a 10-year sentence for rape. He had already served eight years and had two more years to serve; Momo Dakaweh (47) had served three years and six months for manslaughter and had one year remaining; Joseph Walker (69) and Weegie Kokolo (64) were serving sentences for statutory rape. They were released due to old age.
Jackson William (75), Pa Reeves (80) and Borbor (81) were all serving terms for Statutory Rape. They were pardoned because of old age.
Others were James Doe (76) was serving a 10-year sentence for rape in Grand Gedeh County, but had only served two years and six months. He was pardoned because of old age; while Bah Mamadou (31), a Guinean national was serving a six year sentence for armed robbery in Grand Gedeh County. He had served five years and five months.
He has been pardoned and will be deported to his country of origin.
There were others who were considered for Executive Clemency, but require in-depth post sentence investigation, secure mental and psycho-social service and reintegration exercise before being released into society.
LINA