IPNews-Monrovia,Liberia-12 June 2018: The Latest information coming from the Philadelphia , the USA, say today at 1:45 P.M., court officials are currently seeking jurors for the full execution of trial for Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, a Liberian man accused of lying on U.S. citizenship forms about his ties to convicted war criminals.
The Jury selection which is said to be under way in the federal trial of a Woewiyu, has accused him of lying on his U.S. citizenship application about when inquest was made about his ties to former Liberian President Charles Taylor, now convicted war criminals.
Attorneys for Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, also known as Thomas Smith, have asked to quiz potential jurors late Monday on whether they have knowledge of West African history or ties to international humanitarian causes that would prohibit them from being impartial if they hear testimony about alleged atrocities during the civil wars in Liberia.
Woewiyu now face multiple charges related to fraud in immigration documents, including answering no when he was asked if he’d ever been involved in the overthrow of a government.
It’s the second case in recent years of former Liberian men or officials living in the Philadelphia area charged with immigration fraud related to their failure to disclose their roles in the Liberian civil wars.
Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu trial in a federal court, comes just months after another Mohammed Jabbateh, another Liberian was sentenced in April to 30 years for immigration fraud federal maximum prison.
Woewiyu has lived in the Philadelphia area since the 1970s, commuting back and forth to Liberia.
Prosecutors alleged when Woewiyu applied for citizenship in 2006, he lied about his role in Liberia’s long civil war and other atrocities committed.
It may be recalled, Mohammed Jabbateh who was also sentenced in April to 30 years for immigration fraud in deceiving immigration officials about his role in Liberia’s violent war crimes which now becomes similar to Woewiyu.
