The number of people waiting for trial in Liberia’s jails has been a major problem for some time.
More than three thousand four hundred people – who have not been convicted of any crime –
are now in pretrial detention nationwide, according to the Bureau of Corrections.

Pretrial detainees account for seven in every 10 prisoners in the country.

Overcrowding and poor conditions have brought condemnation from human rights groups.
As Garmai Tarnue finds when she visits Gbarnga Central Prison in Bong County in this
collaboration with New Narratives, government has released more than six thousand prisoners
in an effort to alleviate the problem but there is a long way to go.

This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the Investigating Liberia project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia. The funder had no say in the story’s content.