previously denied any connection<\/a> to the fire.<\/p>\nLawmakers Kamara, Seboe and Debee – who are all members of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party – were detained alongside Koffa on Friday in connection with the case.<\/p>\n
They spent a night in detention at the national police headquarters, before being transferred to the Monrovia Central Prison on Saturday, where they were held for two nights.<\/p>\n
Representative Priscilla Cooper has also been charged, but was not detained due to ill-health.<\/p>\n
The court has placed a travel ban on the accused pending the conclusion of the case.<\/p>\n
The blaze on 18 December last year destroyed the entire joint chambers of the West African nation’s legislature. No one was inside the building at the time.<\/p>\n
The day before had seen tense protests over the plans to remove Koffa, with demonstrators including an aide to former President George Weah arrested.<\/p>\n
Several individuals, including Koffa and Representative Frank Saah Foko, were brought in for questioning by police.<\/p>\n
Foko, a prominent figure in the House of Representatives, allegedly uploaded a video to Facebook in which he said: “If they want us to burn the chambers, we will burn it.”<\/p>\n
Liberia’s House of Representatives has been beset by a long-running power struggle.<\/p>\n
Koffa had been locked in a stand-off with his political opponents, with dozens of lawmakers voting for his impeachment last October over accusations of poor governance, corruption and conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n
Although the bid to impeach him fell short of the two-thirds majority required, the group of 47 lawmakers who had voted for the move unilaterally appointed their own speaker.<\/p>\n
Last month, Koffa resigned as speaker after months of political deadlock.<\/p>\n