MONROVIA, LIBERIA. Criminal Court “C” Judge Ousman F. Feika has granted former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor compassionate release from detention on medical grounds, marking a significant new court development in Liberia’s high-profile cocaine prosecution.
The ruling allows Howard-Taylor to receive medical care at her residence while the criminal proceedings continue.
Local media reported the decision Friday, September 4, 2026, following renewed health concerns raised by her lawyers.
The court imposed strict conditions.
Howard-Taylor must surrender all travel documents.
Her movements remain restricted. The court also limited visits at her residence to a family member and her physician or physician’s assistant.
The ruling does not dismiss the charges.
Howard-Taylor remains accused of serious drug trafficking, conspiracy, facilitation, solicitation and money laundering offenses connected to the government’s wider investigation into an alleged transnational cocaine network.
She denies the allegations and remains presumed innocent.
The decision comes hours after the Monrovia City Court began the substantive preliminary examination of the case.
Earlier Friday, Magistrate L. Ben Barco rejected a defense request seeking advance access to the prosecution’s evidence.
Prosecutors then called Liberia National Police Crime Services Commissioner Raphael Wilson as their first witness.
Wilson testified about alleged links between Howard-Taylor and suspected members of an international narcotics organization.
Reporting from the hearing says he also alleged investigators documented efforts by members of the network to seek political protection.
Those allegations remain untested in court.
The compassionate-release ruling reverses Howard-Taylor’s immediate detention situation after an earlier setback.
On August 25, the Monrovia City Court rejected her request for compassionate detention and sent her to Monrovia Central Prison. Liberia’s Judiciary publicly recorded the earlier ruling.
Her lawyers then pursued relief before Criminal Court “C,” which has broader jurisdiction over the felony proceedings.
According to our correspondent, the ruling changes Howard-Taylor’s custody status without ending the prosecution.
It also creates an important distinction between medical release and criminal exoneration.
The court has granted medical accommodation. It has not ruled on whether prosecutors established probable cause or whether the evidence supports conviction.
The preliminary examination remains critical.
Prosecutors must still place sufficient evidence before the court to justify sending the case forward for trial.
The defense retains the right to challenge witnesses, recordings, financial evidence and the alleged connections between Howard-Taylor and the suspected trafficking network.
The major new development is Howard-Taylor’s court-ordered compassionate release and the conditions attached to it.
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