Liberia’s former justice minister and chief justice Gloria Maya Musu-Scott has been acquitted of the murder of her niece by the country’s Supreme Court.
The 70-year-old and three female relatives had been sentenced to life in prison for the brutal killing in February 2023 of 29-year-old Charlotte Musu.
The case gripped the nation as Ms Musu-Scott had been one of Liberia’s most famous judges and politicians, a champion of women rights and at the time of her conviction had just won a significant case against the electoral commission as part of the then-opposition party’s legal team.
A jubilant crowd greeted them outside the jail as they were freed after serving more than eight months.
Shortly afterwards, Ms Musu-Scott said she and her family rejoiced in their release but she lamented the state of the justice system.
“There are a lot of innocent persons in jail in this republic. So I say thank you to the lawyers. But I say to them, there is still work to be done.”
Ms Musu-Scot served as Liberia’s justice minister and later as the chief justice of the Supreme Court until her retirement in 2003.
She later transitioned to politics and was a lawmaker in Maryland County until 2012.
She was still a member of the Unity Party – whose leader Joseph Boakai became president in January – and had been part of the legal team that successfully challenged the electoral commission’s refusal to allow parties to see the voters’ roll.
Ms Musu-Scott and her three relatives were found guilty by a lower court in December of stabbing her niece and also for conspiracy and making a false report to the police. They were sentenced to life in January.
The former chief justice had denied the charge, saying the 29-year-old had been killed by an “assassin” who had entered her home in the capital, Monrovia.
Delivering the appeal verdict on Wednesday, Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh ruled that there was not sufficient evidence to link the former judge and her relatives to the crime.
“The state did not meet the burden of proof to warrant the conviction of the defendants. Therefore, the defendants are hereby acquitted of the crimes of murder, criminal conspiracy… as charged in the indictment,” Justice Youh ruled.
The top court said the evidence presented by the state prosecutors failed to identify the specific individual responsible for the murder.
State prosecutors had earlier acknowledged that the conviction was based on circumstantial evidence, local media reported.
Women’s rights groups have urged that the Charlotte Musu not be forgotten.
The acquittal had “reopened wounds and ignited a sense of urgency to seek true justice” for the murdered woman, the Women Non-Governmental Organizations Secretariat Of Liberia (Wongosol) said in a statement.
“Justice cannot be sacrificed for the sake of the wrongly accused.”
The group added that the acquitted women would also need help to rebuild their lives.
“While we acknowledge that the criminal justice system is designed to protect the innocent, we cannot ignore the fact that a grave injustice has been done.
“The individuals who were wrongfully accused and detained have endured immense suffering.”