Liberia judge probes bribery in coup plot verdict

MONROVIA (Reuters) - A Liberian jury has convicted two ex-army officers of treason for plotting a coup last year but a judge began an inquiry on Wednesday into whether prosecutors bribed jurors, officials and court documents said. The jury convicted former General Charles Julu, who led a previous coup attempt in 1994 during Liberia's civil war, and ex-Colonel Andrew Dorbor on Tuesday over a plot unearthed by the west African country's intelligence services last year. Amid chaotic scenes in court, Judge Charles Williams said he would investigate defence allegations that prosecutors had given each juror $800 to encourage them to convict the pair, the official court record from Tuesday's hearing showed. "I remember that prior to Christmas, the county attorney approached me in my office to say that the government was contemplating giving the jurors $150 for their present as a Christmas bonus. They even offered it to me," he continued. Williams began a hearing into the bribery allegations -- a sort of trial within a trial -- on Wednesday that was expected to continue on Thursday, the clerk of the court told Reuters. News of the coup plot last year stirred fears of a return to political instability after the 2005 election of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained former World Bank economist, as Africa's first elected woman head of state. However, many Liberians questioned how serious a risk the coup plot had posed, especially after a huge ammunition cache the authorities said they had found during their investigations turned out to be useless scrap metal destined for recycling. A key piece of evidence released by authorities shortly after the arrests was a video recording of Dorbor and Julu's cousin talking to a military officer from neighbouring Ivory Coast about how to transport weapons from there into Liberia. During initial questioning, Dorbor implicated Julu and George Koukou, who had served as head of the national assembly during a post-war transitional administration. Johnson-Sirleaf pardoned Koukou mid-trial on Monday, citing a need for national reconciliation, during her annual State of the Nation address before both chambers of parliament. She said in her speech she would allow the justice system to run its course in other prosecutions which were at a more advanced stage than that of Koukou. The small West African country faces huge struggles as it struggles to rebuild infrastructure and public services, including its law enforcement and judicial systems, after a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003. africa.reuters.com