Gloria Maya Musu-Scott, who once served as Liberia’s justice minister and chief justice, has been cleared of her niece’s murder by the Supreme Court.
Musu-Scott, now 70, along with three female relatives, had been sentenced to life in prison for the February 2023 killing of 29-year-old Charlotte Musu.
This case attracted a lot of attention in Liberia, as Musu-Scott was a well-known judge and politician who had recently won an important legal battle against the electoral commission for the opposition party, as reported by BBC.
After spending over eight months in prison, Musu-Scott and her relatives were freed, greeted by a cheering crowd outside the jail. She expressed her happiness but also criticized Liberia’s justice system, stating that many innocent people remain in jail.
BBC highlighted that Musu-Scott, who retired as chief justice in 2003, later entered politics and was a lawmaker until 2012. She was also part of the legal team that successfully challenged the electoral commission’s decision to prevent parties from seeing the voters’ roll.
A lower court had found Musu-Scott and her relatives guilty in December, claiming they stabbed her niece and made a false police report. They were sentenced to life in January, but Musu-Scott denied the accusations, saying her niece was killed by an “assassin” who broke into her home in Monrovia
. On Wednesday, Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh overturned the conviction, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to link them to the crime. The BBC reported that the court stated the state prosecutors failed to prove who was responsible for the murder. Earlier, prosecutors had admitted the case was based on circumstantial evidence.
Women’s rights groups, including Wongosol, emphasized that Charlotte Musu should not be forgotten. The group said the acquittal reopened old wounds and stressed the need for true justice for the murdered woman.
They also noted that the wrongly accused women would need help to rebuild their lives, adding that while the justice system aims to protect the innocent, a significant injustice had occurred.
BBC reported these sentiments as part of the broader reaction to the case.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyngym4gvjo