Jackson K. Kolako, a Liberian investigator, said he was held at police headquarters in Monrovia for six days without officials taking a statement [1].
The allegation suggests significant procedural failures in the handling of a cocaine case, which could jeopardize the legal viability of the investigation if due process was ignored.
Kolako said he was detained from Aug. 1 to Aug. 7 [1]. During this period, he said that no officer conducted an interrogation or recorded a formal statement [1]. He said that he did not refuse any interrogation and did not decline to sign any statement—none were ever requested [1].
According to Kolako, the detention included a breach of digital privacy. He said that on the third day of his detention, officials forced him to produce two mobile phones [1]. He said he was required to surrender every password associated with those devices [1].
The investigator's account describes a period of six days [1] spent at the headquarters where standard police protocols were allegedly bypassed. The lack of documentation regarding his detention, or the evidence gathered from his devices, raises questions about the legality of the police actions in Monrovia [2].
Kolako described the experience as a failure of the justice system. He said the lack of a formal statement represents the fastest way to lose the cocaine case in question [2].
“"Not an interrogation he refused. Not a statement he declined to sign. None taken at all."”
The absence of a formal statement and the forced surrender of digital passwords may constitute a violation of procedural law in Liberia. If the defense can prove that an investigator was detained without due process, any evidence derived from that detention—including data from the seized phones—could be deemed inadmissible in court, potentially collapsing the prosecution's case.
