–Ordered Journalist Jailed over Parking Lot Argument; Later Released after A Night Behind Bars

By Emmanuel Tophic Degleh in Kakata, Margibi County

IPNEWS-Kakata: The Judicial Canons of Liberia according to the framers of these profound guidelines, were crafted to guide judges in the discharge of their respective professional duties.

But it seems an Associate Magistrate at the Kakata Magisterial Court, Melvin Macaulay, cares far less the consequences thereof, if a judge or a magistrate comes into conflict with the Judicial Canons.

With specific references to Judicial Canons Ten, Seven, Twenty-Eighty, and Thirty-Nine, the Kakata Associate Magistrate, Melvin Macaulay’s action on Thursday, December 1, 2022 when he publicly had an argument with a journalist assigned in Margibi County by the Liberia News Agency (LINA), Richard Duke Baysah, has sparked public debate where the Associate Magistrate has been accused of abusing power by punishing someone he had a quarrel with in public over a parking lot space.

Journalist Richard Duke Baysah of LINA

What do the above mentioned Judicial Canons Say?

Judicial Canon Ten. ESSENTIAL CONDUCT OF A JUDGE: “A judge should be temperate, attentive, and impartial and since he is to administer the law, interpret it and apply it to the facts, he should be studious of the principles of the law and diligent in endeavoring to ascertain the facts.”

Judicial Canon Seven. PUBLIC BEHAVIOR: “A judge should conduct himself in a decent, and honorable manner in the society. A judge shall refrain from ungentlemanly   acts such as drunkenness, abuse of drugs and other substance. Loud and riotous behavior and the conviction of a non-excusable offense.”

Judicial Canon Twenty-Eight. SELF-INTEREST: “A judge should abstain from performing or taking part in any judicial act in which his personal interests are involved.   If he has personal litigation in the court for which he is assigned, or is a resident, he need not resign his judgeship on that account but he should, of course, refrain from any judicial act in such a controversy.”

Judicial Canon Thirty-Eight. A SUMMARY OF WDICIAL OBLIGATION: “In every particular case a judge’s conduct should always be above reproach. He should be conscientious, studious, thorough, courteous, patient, punctual, just, impartial, fearless of public clamor regardless of public praise, and indifferent to private, political or partisan influence; he should administer justice according to law, and deal with his appointment as a public trust; he should not allow another affairs or his private interest to interfere with the prompt and proper performance of his judicial duties nor should he administer the office for the purpose of advancing his personal ambitions or increasing his popularity.”

Judicial Canon Thirty-Nine. PENALTY: “The penalty for violation of any provision of the Judicial Canon shall be either fine, suspension, impeachment and/or prosecution in a court of law according to the gravity of the violation.”

Kakata Associate Magistrate Melvin Macaulay Jails LINA Journalist over Contempt Charge after Public Quarrel

On Thursday, December 1, 2022, a Liberian Journalist Richard Duke Baysah of the Liberia News Agency (LINA) based in Margibi was charged with Criminal Contempt of Court and ordered jailed at the Kakata Central Prison by Associate Magistrate Melvin Macaulay of the Kakata Magisterial Court.

According to reports, the Associate Magistrate’s action to jail the Journalist on Thursday was triggered by a quarrel that transpired on Monday, November 28, 2022 between both men (Associate Magistrate Macaulay & Journalist Baysah) over a parking lot that belongs to Kakata City Corporation.

Journalist Baysah             Outgoing PUL President Charles Coffey

The Judge had ordered the Journalist to remove his car to allow him (Magistrate) to park his vehicle, but the Journalist refused on grounds that the space in the parking lot doesn’t belong to the court. The Journalist reported refusal led to the confrontation which angered the Magistrate.

The Associate Magistrate then use his office to Charge the Journalist with Contempt of Court and sentenced him to jail for one week.

Meanwhile, the Margibi Journalist Association (MARJA) issued a statement on Thursday evening calling for the unconditional release of Journalist Baysah.

MARJA has condemned the judge’s action against the journalist as an abuse of his judicial power.

Baysah spent his first night behind bars and was said to have been release early Friday morning according to a PUL release previously issued, but that was not case as the Journalist remained behind bars at the Kakata Central Prison almost to late Friday afternoon before he was released.

Did PUL Really Secure Journalist Richard Baysah Release from Prison?

On early Friday, December 2, 2022, the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) through a release signed by outgoing Secretary General Musa Kanneh stated that the Union had secured the release of journalist Richard Baysah from prison after he was charged with Contempt of Court by Magistrate Melvin McCauley in Kakata Margibi County.

“Journalist Baysah was freed as a result of PUL’s President Charles B. Coffey’s intervention. The release came when the PUL President was apprised of the situation by the Reporters Association’s current Vice President and President-elect, Willie N. Tokpah,” the PUL release added.

According to the release, the PUL President immediately called the Magistrate, who acknowledged detaining the journalist and the grounds for his action. Magistrate McCauley was then asked to release the journalist until a thorough inquiry was conducted to verify the facts surrounding the issues of the contempt charge. Magistrate McCauley then accepted Mr. Coffey’s request to free Mr. Baysah.

Meanwhile, PUL President then urged media colleagues in the area to be calm as a full investigation will be conducted to authenticate the story. Mr. Coffey said justice will be accorded.

Did PUL Mislead the Public and Its Members In Its Press Release?

Minutes after the PUL outgoing Secretary General Musa Kanneh issued the press release that misinformed its members as well as the general public that it had secured journalist Baysah’s release from the Kakata Central Prison, several journalists, especially those based in Kakata, Margibi County took exception, stating the PUL did not do due diligence to verify whether journalist Baysah was actually released following their interaction by mobile phone with the Associate Magistrate Macaulay.

Most journalists expressed disappointment and called on the PUL to properly investigate what transpired in public between the Kakata Associate Magistrate and journalist Baysah over a public parking lot space.

Kakata Associate Magistrate Macaulay Says Journalist Can Take Him to Judicial Inquiry Committee (JIC) If His Rights Were Violated by Him

Meanwhile, upon the release of journalist Richard Duke Baysah from prison at the Kakata Central Prison on late Friday evening, the Kakata Associate Magistrate Melvin Macaulay told journalists in Kakata that if the Liberia News Agency (LINA) journalist/correspondent feels his rights were violated, he is more than free to take his complaints to the Judicial Inquiry Committee (JIC) for redress.

Legal pundits spoken to told IPNEWS that for an Associate Magistrate to respond to inquiries in the form and manner he responded to journalists who wanted to know what actually made him to abuse his office and powers, clearly shows that he is arrogant and feels that he is above the law.

But what remains to be seen is, if the aggrieved journalist, Richard Duke Baysah, does decide to complain him to the JIC, his fate will be decided whether he was right to jail someone he had a public argument with over a parking space or whether he was wrong.

Legal luminaries and bookmakers are watching keenly as to what will unfold in the coming days if the aggrieved LINA journalist/correspondent, Richard Duke Baysah does decide to complain the Kakata Associate Magistrate, Melvin Macaulay, for violating his rights by using his power as a Magistrate.