Liberian War-Lord Arrested in the United States
George Boley - War Lord
George Boley was arrested in New York State and faces charges of being in the U.S. without proper documentation and for extra-judicial killings in Liberia. The former leader of the Liberian Peace Council, one of the warring factions in the country’s long brutal civil war, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service in New York and is being held on allegations of being in the United States without proper legal documents. According to immigration officials, Boley will have to appear before an immigration judge to defend the charges against him. He was arrested at the Peace Bridge which is on the border of the United States. He was asked to appear there upon entering the United States in November because it was suspected that he did not have documentation to be in the country legally.
He was questioned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. After a period of questioning, he was arrested by ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). He has been remanded in custody in Batavia, New York. Boley’s wife, Kathryn and son Boley junior have in a written statement, questioned the logic that Mr. Boley could have travelled to and from the United States for 20 years undocumented, particularly in the wake of September 11, 2001.
Immigration officials suspected that Boley did not have proper documentation as he tried to re-enter the United States in November 2009. A senior official said “He was given a deferred inspection, which means that they gave him a period of time to get his papers in order and appear at an office for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and it happens at the Peace Bridge which is near his house. When he came there to be questioned about his immigration status, he was also questioned about activities which he did not declare upon entering the country, and he was charged with being in the country illegally and with extra-judicial killings.” Boley who was head of the Liberian Peace Council during the country’s 14 year civil war, has denied committing any crimes against humanity. His son, Boley Junior, claimed the allegations against his father are faceless and without merit. He said “To be quite frank, the charges are bogus and completely fabricated and unsubstantiated. At no given time has he taken up a gun to shoot somebody as the United States claimed he has done.” A court hearing has been set for February 24.
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