Liberia

(CEMESP/IFEX) – On 8 June 2006, officers of the Special Security Service (SSS) and a United States Secret Service Agent assigned to protect Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf manhandled some journalists, leaving one with a neck injury and the loss of his mobile phone. The incident occurred at Liberia’s International Airport following the arrival of […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 17 May 2006, the Liberian Broadcasting System (LBS), the state-owned broadcaster, ordered its journalists to seek clearance prior to broadcasting “corruption allegations” against government officials and other top personalities. A memorandum signed by Benjamin N.Tangay, Assistant Director General for News and Public Affairs (ADG), warned that editorial staff had to channel all […]

(CEMESP/IFEX) – The sixth judicial Circuit court in Monrovia has summoned the management of one of Liberia’s weekly newspapers, “The Telegraph”. The Court’s summons follows a libel lawsuit filed against the newspaper by the managing director of the Liberia Refinery Company (LPRC), Harry Greaves. Director Greaves is a member of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s inner […]

(CEMESP/IFEX) – On 25 April 2006, three newspaper executives (Stanley Seakor of the “Analyst”, Kenneth Best of the daily “Observer”, Tom Kamara of the “New Democrat”) appeared before the Senate Committee on Information and Broadcasting after being summoned by the body. The three papers for which they work have been accused by the Senate of […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has called on the new head of the Liberia National Police, Beatrice Munah Sieh, to take energetic measures to ensure respect for the work of the press after two reporters were beaten by police officers while covering the eviction of street vendors in Monrovia on 20 April 2006. “When everything […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – Alfred Kaine, editor-in-chief of the independent weekly newspaper “The Parrot”, was attacked on 20 January 2006 by four unidentified men at about 10:30 p.m. (local time) at Sinkor in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. Kaine was whipped and dragged on the street by his attackers, leaving him with bruises on his body and […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 6 September 2005, Othello Garblah, news editor of the independent weekly “New Democrat”, was assaulted at the Ministry of Justice for attempting to take a photograph of Edwin Snowe, managing director of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC). Garblah, who was attacked on the orders of Snowe, was slightly injured. According to […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 15 March 2005, officials of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court reopened the Monrovia offices of “Forum” newspaper, following the persistent refusal by the newspaper’s management to pay a “bribe” of 500 Liberian dollars (approx. US$10) that had previously been demanded by the court as a pre-condition for its reopening. The newspaper reappeared […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 15 March 2005, Rhodoxon Fayiah, a reporter for Radio Veritas, a radio station operated by the Catholic church, was assaulted by police officers assigned to the Careysburg security checkpoint, about 25 km north of the capital, Monrovia. Fayiah was injured during the assault and also lost US$50 in the scuffle. According to […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – Officers of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in the capital, Monrovia, are demanding 500 Liberian dollars (approx. US$10) from “Forum” newspaper’s management as a pre-condition for reopening its office. According to an MFWA-Monrovia source, the officers were to reopen the newspaper’s office on 11 March 2005, after the management handed over US$200 to […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned “disproportionate” measures taken by a Monrovia court, on 4 March 2005, against the “Forum” newspaper. The court ordered the offices of the privately-owned weekly closed and issued an arrest warrant for the paper’s managing editor and other editorial staff for “contempt of court” after they allegedly ignored several earlier summonses. […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 5 January 2005, “Forum” newspaper was sued for US$2 million for allegedly libelling Melee Kermue, a senatorial candidate in Bong county (central Liberia). According to MFWA-Liberia sources, the lawsuit against “Forum” followed the publication of a 4 January article entitled, “Wanted Hope International Boss Escapes Justice from the U.S.”. The newspaper reported […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 29 October 2004, rampaging youths in the capital, Monrovia, attacked a vehicle carrying a team of journalists from the independent newspaper “The Analyst”. The journalists had gone to verify news of hostilities that were alleged to have broken out in a Monrovia suburb between Christian and Muslim youths. According to MFWA sources, […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed concern over legal action taken against the independent weekly “The Vanguard Newspaper” and objected to the arrest warrant issued against one of its journalists, after he exposed questionable dealings of influential local businessman and African Development Agency (ADA) director Wendell Macintosh. On 14 October 2004, the newspaper carried an article […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – A magisterial court in Monrovia, presided over by Judge Joseph Fayiah, has placed an injunction on publication of the privately-owned “New Broom” newspaper. According to MFWA sources in Liberia, a 14 July 2004 letter signed by the court clerk instructed all printing houses in the country not to print “New Broom” because the […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 4 July 2004, a group of police officers acting on the orders of Police Director Chris Massaquoi beat Bernard Warity, deputy information minister for administration in the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) headed by Charles Gyude Bryant. Warity sustained bruises on his body and is being treated at the St. Joseph […]