Authorities of the Liberian National Police (LNP), over the weekend charged former House Speaker, Jonathan Fonati Koffa and four other lawmakers with arson.
This means, the accused “planned and successfully executed the December 18, 2024, burning of the Capitol Building, the home of the legislature.”
Koffa, considered as a ‘master planer and financier’ of the act that led to the burning of the Capitol Building, and his collaborators were henceforth, sent to the Monrovia Central Prison (MCP) where they spent two nights.
Meanwhile, the LNP forwarded the accused lawmakers to the Monrovia City Court on Monday, June 9, 2025, where they filed a bond to the tone of US$440,000 each.
The bond total US$1.8 million was filed by the accused through their legal counsels.
In the aftermath of the development, government has banned Koffa and others from traveling outside the country, describes them as “flight risks.”
The accused lawmakers, (all, except one), are from the opposition Congress from the Democratic Change (CDC) were brought to court with tight security in place due to the party stewards’ threatening statements spread on various media outlets, including the one on social media (facebook).
Those charged and sent to prison included representatives Dixon W. Seboe, Jacob Debee, Abu Kamara and Priscilla A. Cooper.
The US$440, 000 property bond to release the accused was granted by the Monrovia City Court. It was filed by Mr. Koffa and his four other accomplices (lawmakers) in connection with the December 2024 fire incident that damaged the Capitol Building.
The granting of the property value bond comes after Koffa provided as surety his Rehab residence to secure the release of him and four of his colleagues.
Those released are representatives Jonathan Fonati Koffa, Abu Bana Kamara, Dixon Wlawlee Seboe, Jacob C. Debee, and Priscilla A. Cooper, who is undergoing medical treatment.
The five Lawmakers are facing multiple charges, including arson, criminal conspiracy, and criminal facilitation, stemming from the police investigation into the Capitol fire incident.
Koffa along with the four other lawmakers were arrested on Friday, June 6, 2025, following a writ of arrest from the Monrovia City Court, after the final investigation the Liberia National Police submitted to the court.
The four lawmakers were immediately incarcerated after being arrested, however, the US$440,000 property bond filed Monday, June 9, 2025, has guaranteed their temporary freedom pending the adjudication of the case.
The accused ‘temporary freedom’ was widely celebrated by the party’s royalists, who saw that as the ‘CDC victory.’
Earlier, the Monrovia City Court issued a writ of “Ne Exeat Republica” against the defendants. This means, the accused are prevented from traveling out of the country while the case was ongoing.
The Stipendiary Magistrate Ben Barco, issued the order following a petition from state prosecutors seeking a Writ of Ne Exeat Republica—a legal mechanism barring defendants from leaving the country, while facing criminal prosecution.
Stipendiary Magistrate Barco has subsequently directed all national security agencies to arrest the named lawmakers from “leaving or attempting to depart” through any of the country’s exit points.