Published: January 13, 2025
MONROVIA – Thomas Etheridge, a Brewerville resident, collapsed multiple times at the Temple of Justice on Monday, alleging he was waterboarded, beaten, and threatened with death by the National Security Agency after he was arrested in front of the Capitol Building on December 18, 2024.
Etheridge, who is seeking relief through a habeas corpus petition, was rushed to the AMI Medical Center near Stella Maris University by police officers after his condition visibly deteriorated.
Etheridge was brought to the Temple of Justice under tight security, looking very frail. He claims to have been subjected to waterboarding from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m., beaten repeatedly, and threatened with being thrown into a snake pit to extract self-incriminating statements. His legal counsel asserts that he was also coerced to sign three separate statements, which he refused, and confronted with recordings he did not recognize.
According to the habeas corpus petition filed by Etheridge’s legal team, the International Law Group, the he was unlawfully arrested and subsequently detained at the LNP headquarters, where he alleges that his rights were egregiously violated. The writ describes his ordeal as a litany of constitutional violations, citing Articles 20(a) and 21(e) of the Liberian Constitution, which explicitly prohibit unlawful detention, torture, and inhumane treatment.
“Petitioner says that after being detained by the Co-Respondent LNP, the said Liberian National Police within the forty-eight (48) hours period has now decided to turn him over to strange men believed to be from the NSA and thereby restrain his liberty under the canopy of a so-called criminal investigation,” the document states. The petition further alleges that his prolonged detention was a deliberate violation of constitutional provisions designed to protect suspects’ rights.
Adding to the gravity of the allegations, Etheridge claims he was tortured and humiliated. “Petitioner says that the torture and inhumane treatment being meted out against him is against the constitutional prohibitions enshrined in Chapter III, Articles 20(a), and 21(e and f),” the petition argues. Etheridge has also accused the authorities of violating his right to due process, emphasizing that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, security of the person, property, privilege, or any other right except as an outcome of a hearing judgment consistent with the provision laid down in this Constitution.”
The petition demands that Etheridge’s detention be deemed unlawful and that he be released without delay. “The Writ of Habeas Corpus will lie, consistent with Sub-Chapter D, Chapter 16 of Title 1, Liberia Codes of Laws revised, to direct the Respondents to bring the living body of the Petitioner before this Honorable Court and that the Court will order the discharge of the Petitioner consistent with the Constitution and Statutes of the Republic of Liberia,” it states.
Discussion about this post