IPNEWS-Monrovia: The fate of two Liberian government officials, who were recently arrested in Busan, South Korea, where they had gone to attend the International Maritime Organization GHG SMART Practical Training and Study Visit (September 19-23, 2022) when this alleged incident occurred, are now in the hands of the judicial system in the Asian country.

According to a Diplomatic Note dispatched from Japan by Liberia’s Ambassador Blamo Nelson to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dee-Maxwell Kemayah, “…. The sexual interaction between Browne and Tarr, and the two Korean ladies on the night of September 22, is not in dispute. Both men have confirmed their interaction with women,” stated by Amb. Nelson, Liberia’s Envoy to Japan.

The officials – Moses Owen Browne, Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in the UK — and Daniel Tarr, Director of the Department of Marine Environmental Protection at the LiMA, were detained last months for allegedly raping two Korean teenagers.

The Diplomatic Note further states that, “Police in South Korea have formally charged two senior employees of the Liberia Maritime Authority (LiMA) accused of rape with the conduct of the crime. 

They have been officially charged with the crime of committing ‘two person joint rape,’ and now awaiting trial in South Korea, said Blamo Nelson, Liberian Ambassador to Japan in a diplomatic note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

If found guilty, Browne and Tarr are expected to serve a jail term of less than seven years.

The Korean government is yet to provide the name or location of the new facility to which Browne and Tarr were sent, as well as notice on the date of the trial, the ambassador said.

Meanwhile, prior to being arraigned before the court in Busan, the Diplomatic Note to Foreign Minister Kemayah stated: “The sexual interaction between Browne and Tarr, and the two Korean ladies on the night of September 22, is not in dispute. Both men have confirmed their interaction with women.  I saw how the two Liberian government officials were handled in preparation for their transfer to the Busan District Prosecutor’s Office,” said Nelson, who has jurisdiction over South Korea. “It was not a pleasant scene for me. Browne and Tarr were stripped of their belongings including cell phones. In my presence, the police did not only handcuff them, but they also shackled and tied them at their feet. 

“I vehemently protested that it was wrong to have them tied as though they were slaves being taken to slave camps; and that such treatment was inhumane and unacceptable; especially considering that they were not resisting, nor hostile in anyway. After shouting, the police officers yielded to my argument with an apology and, except for the handcuff, removed the shackles and the ties.”

    Foreign Minister Dee-Maxwell Kemayah                 Liberia’s Ambassador to Japan Blamo Nelson

It is alleged that the victims informed Busan police that they are 14 and 16 years old, constituting the crime of statutory rape under South Korean criminal law.

Browne and Tarr were arrested at a hotel in Busan after a friend of the alleged victims reported the case to the police, Busan police said.

Statutory rape, according to South Korean Law, occurs when an individual has consensual sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 20 in Korean age.

The age of consent in South Korea is 20 years old, at which time an individual is considered legally old enough to consent to participation in sexual activity. Individuals aged 19 or younger in South Korea are not legally able to consent to sexual activity, and such activity may result in prosecution for statutory rape or the equivalent local law.

Meanwhile, Nelson had informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that based on his observation, there is a dire need for the government to hire lawyers to represent the legal interest of the two Liberian maritime officials who are now in jail, awaiting trial for rape.

Busan police, the Ambassador said, are open to reviewing Browne’s and Tarr’s requests for diplomatic immunity provided that the Government of Liberia can submit the relevant documents regarding the claims, which are subject to review.

“I have not met any push-back from authorities of the Busan Police station where our two officials were held prior to their transfer. Those that I met officially were very willing to point out their expectation as to what, at this point, the Government of Liberia needs to do in this case: Supply documentation affirming the diplomatic status of the accused officials, and secure lawyers to begin legal defense of accused officials. 

“Browne continues to hesitate providing substantive explanation to the Police, about their encounter he and Tarr had with the two Korean ladies. He is insisting that he has immunity under international law, considering his status as an official of the Government of Liberia, with a valid diplomatic passport and a visa duly issued by the Government of the Republic of Korea. He is of the hope that the GOL will make proper representation to the Government of the Republic of Korea.” 

“Tarr, considering that he is not holding a Diplomatic Passport, but rather an Official Passport with a proper Visa issued by the Government of Korea, has responded to the Police interrogation, but I was not privileged to know what he may have explained. Tarr, is expecting that the GoL will make the proper representation to the Government of Korea which would lead to their release and return to Monrovia,” the Ambassador said.

Maritime Commissioner Eugene Lenn Nagbe

Meanwhile, the Liberia Maritime Authority has yet to comment on the latest saga involving two of its employees but, in an official statement issued when the arrests were made last month, they described the allegation as grave, and has no place in any civilized society.

“LiMA unequivocally maintains a zero-tolerance stance on any types of sexual and gender-based offenses, and views these allegations of the conduct of its Officials as most egregious, having no place in any civilized society,” the release said.

“We will fully cooperate with the Government of the Republic of South Korea in the investigation of this incident and vow to take appropriate actions, pursuant to national and international Law.”

Similarly, the Commissioner of the Liberia Maritime Authority (LiMA), Lenn Eugene Nagbe, has said the ongoing prosecution of two of its officials in South Korea on allegations of rape has tainted the image of the country’s maritime program to the outside world.

The men, in their 30s and 50s, respectively, were arrested on the spot at a hotel after a friend of the alleged victims reported the case to the police. But Mr. Nagbe pointed out that the jailed Permanent Representative of Liberia to the IMO, Mr. Brown, continues to deny the allegations brought against him by the South Korean government.

He made these comments when he appeared as a guest on the OK Morning Rush on OK FM 99.5 in Monrovia recently.

Mr. Nagbe maintained that despite the denial from Mr. Brown, the wide media reports on the matter have cast a “negative spell” on the LiMA and its international programs, adding that, “the clients and ship owners are calling because the issue of sexual crimes is not a joke in Liberia and throughout the world.”

He further pointed out that an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already been dispatched to South Korea and was received at the Liberian embassy in Tokyo.

“I also spoke to Ambassador Blamo Nelson who has supervision of Korea and so, we have to allow the process to unfold. I spoke to Mr. Brown verbally; he was allowed to use his phone at intervals. He continues to proclaim his innocence and said it was a setup.”

“I’m not trying to litigate the matter right now, but I just assured him (Brown) that we will do what we have to do as a government to intervene and make representation with the Korean government in many areas. But I am not pretending that this has not affected the image of the Liberia maritime program.”

Mr. Nagbe disclosed that on Wednesday, September 28, the Secretary of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) convened a meeting on the situation surrounding the arrest and ongoing prosecution of the two maritime officials.

He disclosed that President George Weah, as a “Feminist-In-Chief” has also mandated the LiMA to “do everything possible to make diplomatic contacts and the Foreign Minister has already initiated that.”

“From our end as a government, in these kinds of situations, we allow the diplomatic engagement to be consummated. This is what’s ongoing. We just have to wait.  My understanding is that the official from the Foreign Ministry has a meeting today with the Korean authorities and after that, we will know what next.”

He noted that the diplomatic process surrounding the matter is currently unfolding between Liberia and South Korea and as such, procedures and protocols surrounding the recall of Mr. Brown will be followed thereafter.