Two officials of the Liberia Maritime Authority (LiMA), Moses Owen Browne and Daniel Tarr are being held in South Korea along for alleged raping of two teens while on training.
Browne 37, is Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) based in the UK while Tarr is the Director of the Department of Marine Environmental Protection.
According to Korean media, the pair had travelled to the Port city of Busan, South Korea to attend the GHG SMART Practical Training and Study Visit which took place from September 19-23.
Report says they were both taken into police custody on Friday after the alleged victims claimed they are teenagers called the police from the two officials’ hotel room that they had been raped.
LiMA Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) told a Front Page Africa via whatsapp over the weekend they interacted with the girls who admitted they were 21 and 26 years old before taking to their hotel.
Moses Brown that after spending some time with them in their hotel room, they allegedly offered to spend the night and then called their friends to bring them some clothes for a change.
Hours later, the officials heard a strong bang on their door while the girls were inside.
He added that the hotel’s receptionist hang up on him when he called to inform them of the heavy bang on the door
According to him, there was a second bang a few minutes later so he called other Maritime officials attending the conference who confirmed to him that it was the police banging on their door. It was when he gained the confidence to open the door.
He said when they opened the door, they heard the girls saying “These are the monkeys who raped us”.
He said they communicated with the girl via a translation app on their mobile phones.
Meanwhile, the pair are yet to be formally charged. A Korean judge has taken statements from them to determine probable cause for a formal rape charge against them and the need for detention.
‘Moses Browne rape before’
One facebooker posted that it was the Mr. Browne first time to be involve with rape issue. alleged involvement with rape, posted to Ne-Suah Livingstone “Money can’t leave his black hand behind”.
What did Liberia Martime Authority says?
The Liberia Maritime Authority (LiMA) has described the allegation against its officials as grave and says it maintains a zero-tolerance stance on any and all types of sexual and gender-based offenses, and views these allegations of the conduct of its Officials as most egregious, having no place in any civilized society.
“Liberia Maritime Authority will fully cooperate with the Government of the Republic of South Korea in the investigation of this incident and vows to take appropriate actions, pursuant to national and international Law,” it said in a statement.
