Criminal Court ‘C’ presiding Judge Peter Gbeneweleh on Monday reserved ruling into the trial of Henry Costa following arguments by both prosecution and defense lawyers.
“The Court attaches serious importance to this hearing and reserves ruling for Thursday, February 12, 2015. This Court wants to research the law in order to make an informed
decision. So, the Sheriffs of this Court will take possession of the defendant until Thursday for final decision”, the judge said in his ruling.
It will be the duty of Costa’s lawyers to present his living body to the court throughout the trial in keeping with judicial procedures and processes.
Police over the weekend arrested the talk show host about 2 a.m. local time in Monrovia. It was earlier speculated that Costa was arrested for breaking the curfew imposed to aid the fight against the deadly Ebola virus.
But state lawyer Cllr. Darku Mulbah clarified that although Costa and others were arrested for vagrancy, he (Costa) was already wanted by security forces in connection to an ongoing investigation. But he said Mr. Costa has allegedly shown unwillingness to cooperate with the investigation team. The government lawyer referred to the local talk show host as a person of interest in the ongoing investigation.
According to Cllr. Mulbah, Mr. Costa was arrested for invading justice after he was called on several occasions to surrender himself and to assist in the ongoing investigation by national security agencies in the recent mysterious deportation saga of a Lebanese national, Sam Fawaz, without due process of law, something the lawyer said has sparked widespread public concern.
Fawaz has since returned to Liberia, renewing an inquest into how anyone could be deported from Liberia without the knowledge of the relevant authorities, court document said.
Costa was today Monday arraigned before Criminal Court "C" at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia following the filing of a writ of habeas corpus by his lawyers against police authority for detaining Mr. Costa without charge.
A writ of Habeas Corpus compels the government to present in court the living body of an accused person, and requires the court to determine whether or not there are grounds for continued detention.