By Lansana Fofana
FREETOWN, Nov 16 1998 (IPS)

The trial of 32 Liberians, who were charged with treason last month, has began in the capital Monrovia.

Of the 32 defendants, only seven — who include former Ulimo-J rebel commander Arma Youlou and a medical doctor — made their first appearance in court when the trial opened last week.

Conspicuously absent among the alleged coup plotters were former rebel faction leaders Alhagie Kromah of Ulimo-K and Roosevelt Johnson of Ulimo-J, who are both out of the west African country.

Kromah, who lives in the Guinean capital of Conakry, is currently in the United States, while Johnson was flown out of Monrovia in late September, following bloody clashes between his supporters and government forces.

Both Kromah and Johnson have denied allegations of involvement in the plot to overthrow the government of President Charles Taylor.

Last week information minister, Joe Molba, said the government of Liberia was seeking the extradition of both Kromah and Johnson.

The seven, who did not plead guilty to the charges of treason, told the court that they could not hire lawyers to represent them because of financial difficulties.

State-own Radio Liberia, monitored from the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown on Monday, said local rights groups had agreed to represent the seven accused, without fees.

Last week local journalist Sam Howard said reporters were warned that cameras and recorders would not be permitted in court, as the trials proceed.

“We were told that recording devices would only be allowed on the first day of the sittings,” he said. “And people entering the courts were thoroughly screened.”

The trial come almost two months, after bloody gun battles on Monrovia’s streets, between government forces and Johnson’s supporters.

More than 50 people, mainly from the Khran ethnic group, were massacred by pro-Taylor forces. Critics say Taylor is out to eliminate his arch-rival Johnson and destroy his support base, among his Khran community.

They also have described the trial, in which more than 70 percent of the accused are Khran, as “ethnic cleansing”. The political situation in Liberia has forced almost all opposition leaders to flee into exile.

Those who have fled include Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who contested the presidency against Taylor in 1997, but refused to take up appointment in his government. She now lives in the United States.

Observers believe the whole treason story is a ploy by Taylor to keep his political rivals at bay.

Liberian government in September named Sierra Leone’s deputy defence minister, Hinga Norman and chief of defence staff Brig Gen. Maxwell Khobe as co-conspirators in a coup plot aimed at toppling it. The Sierra Leonean officials denied the allegations.

Back home in Liberia, tensions have been reigning high since the trial began. The dreaded Special Security (SS) have reportedly been terrorising opponents of the Taylor government.

There are growing fears that Liberia may be heading into another civil war. More than 150,000 people were killed between 1989 and 1997 when Taylor fought a bush war and toppled the late President Sam Doe, a Khran.

Excerpt: