The Alternative National Congress (ANC) has called on Government to exercise absolute sobriety, fairness to the rule of law in connection with the arrest and subsequent detention of former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor in the ongoing cocaine investigations.
ANC said Madam Howard- Taylor is entitled to all constitutional protections, dignity, due process, and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of competent jurisdiction.
The party said it wants the allegations levied against her to be established through due process of law and not through public spectacle, political maneuvering or media trial.
ANC said while it is true it strongly supports government efforts to reveal the narcotics networks operating within the country, government must be able to hold accountable individuals responsible for such epidemic that threatens public health and national security.
ANC said it is deeply concerned why Government is eager to prosecute individuals associated with the former Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) and not those of Unity Party (UP) that are involved.
“This historic drug bust occurred three years into the tenure of the current administration and under its direct watch. Furthermore, Liberia’s own Police Inspector General has publicly indicated that current senior government officials were implicated in the matter. If the rule of law is to have meaning, then the law must pursue every person reasonably suspected of involvement-whether affiliated with the opposition, the ruling party, the security establishment, or any other institution-with the same vigor and impartiality”.
Accordingly, the ANC demands a fully independent, transparent, and credible investigation into the entire narcotics network. The Liberian people deserve to know every individual or entity that financed, facilitated, protected, transported, or otherwise participated in these criminal operations.
ANC said no political affiliation, government position, security role, or personal connection should prevent individuals linked with the cocaine coordination from accountability.
At the same time, ANC wants political opponents be defeated at the ballot box through superior ideas, competent leadership, and a convincing vision not through the use of state institutions.
Henceforth, the ANC is calling on government not to be selective in the ongoing drugs burst probe rather it should accord the constitutional rights to all involved through the due process of law regardless of political affiliation and status within government.
