By: Trokon Wrepue – trokon1992seokin@gmail.com
MONROVIA – Senator Augustine S. Chea of Sinoe County has said the eviction of the opposition Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) from its headquarters in Congo Town was lawful and consistent with Liberia’s judicial process.
In a statement issued after the weekend operation that saw sheriffs and police officers enforce the court’s order, Senator Chea, who is also a lawyer, stressed that the party had no legal basis to resist the eviction.
“I have said it privately before, and I am saying it publicly now, that our party must peacefully vacate the Bernard estate,” he noted.
He explained that once the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court ruled in favor of the Martha Stubblefield Bernard estate and ordered the eviction, that judgment became final and binding unless overturned or stayed by the Supreme Court.
“The filing of a new suit for specific performance by the CDC did not stay the eviction already ordered by the court,” Chea clarified. “Even if the party filed a motion for a stay of execution and posted an indemnity bond, without a stay order from the court, the sheriff had the authority to carry out the eviction.”
According to him, it was also legal for the court to request police support in enforcing the action to prevent resistance.
“That’s the law. We are a country of law!” the Sinoe County Senator emphasized.
The remarks come as the CDC adjusts to life outside its once-symbolic headquarters, which the court awarded to the estate of the late Martha Stubblefield Bernard after a prolonged legal battle.
