— Prosecution’s second witness alleges
Prosecution’s second witness testified on Thursday, alleging the defendants orchestrated a scheme and smuggled gasoline into the Capitol Building using chloride battles.
In his testimony during the second day of the preliminary hearing, at the Monrovia City Court, Alvin James, Deputy Commission of the Liberian National Police (LNP) said, the defendants, particularly Thomas Etheridge, a Maintenance officer assigned within the office of embattled House Speaker, Fonati Koffa, used their respective positions, to coordinate gasoline deliveries through chloride battles without being noticed by assigned officers to the Capitol Building.
“Matches were used to light the gasoline in the Joint Chambers of the Capitol Building,” Witness James testified.
According to James, the chloride bottles and the matches used to burn the Capitol Building were found by police officers during the examination of the crime scene.
“From our laboratory analysis of the chloride bottles, we established it was used to smuggle petroleum in the legislative building,” the witness said.
He said, to substantial their laboratory analysis findings of the substance of the chloride bottles, they wrote the authority of the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company to verify the content that was in the chloride bottles.
“LPRC’s results prove that the content of the chloride bottles is gasoline,” the prosecution’s witness claims.
The witness further testified that prior to the burning of the Capitol Building by the defendants, they (defendants) held several meetings along with Ethridge and Eric Susay, to implement the plan.
“The first meeting was held at the Invisible Park where they agreed, but couldn’t reach out to the date and time for the burning of the Capitol Building,” Witness James alleged. Adding, “Another meeting with Ethridge was held at the PHP Park, there they arrived at the date and time,”
He testified that the information of the meeting was discovered in the phone of Ethridge.
“We wrote the Montserrado County Attorney office for a Writ to search, the phone of all of the defendants, including Ethridge, that request was accepted and this is how we got to know about the meetings and plan to burn the Capitol Building,” the witness said.
The preliminary hearing continues.
Source: Liberian Observer
