Published: August 13, 2026
MONROVIA – Prosecutors will get one more opportunity to begin presenting evidence against Peter Bon Jallah on Friday, seven months after his arrest on gang rape, statutory rape and kidnapping charges, after Criminal Court ‘E’ warned it will consider the legal measures available to it if they seek another postponement.
Judge Alphanso Wesseh adjourned the trial Wednesday after prosecutors said their principal witness, the complainant, could not testify and needed two days of counseling first, which they said would run through Thursday. They asked that the case resume Friday at 10 a.m.
The court said the presumption of innocence obliges it to protect Jallah’s right to a speedy and impartial trial, and noted that he was arrested in January and has been subject to the proceedings since. Representatives of the Bureau of Corrections and Rehabilitation were in court, along with both sets of counsel and the defendant.
Defense counsel called the request part of a continuing pattern of delay by prosecutors assigned to the court but did not object, asking only that prosecutors be ready to open their case Friday without seeking further time. The defense is led by Cllr. G. Wiefueh Alfred Sayeh of the Sayeh and Sayeh Law Firm with Cllr. Jallah G. Zumo. Cllr. H. Calvin Momolu and Cllr. Jumah P. Karnley appeared for the state.
Jallah was indicted in the February term along with other defendants who remain at large, and the court severed his case from theirs. He pleaded not guilty when arraigned on June 19 and elected a bench trial. The case was assigned for full trial on Aug. 5.
Between the arraignment and Wednesday, the case moved sideways rather than forward. Prosecutors filed a motion for a change of venue, which the presiding judge then denied. They took the matter to a Justice of the Supreme Court in chambers, who declined to issue the writ and directed the trial judge to proceed. By the time that mandate was read in open court, the regular jury sitting had expired and the trial could not begin.
Jallah is presumed innocent unless a court finds otherwise.
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