IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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ACTION ALERT AND UPDATE - LIBERIA

6 June 2003

Journalist attacked

SOURCE: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Windhoek

**New case and update to IFEX alert of 7 January 2003**

**MISA and the Media Foundation of West Africa (MFWA), as a joint activity,
will henceforth issue alerts, statements and appeals to highlight media
freedom and wider human rights violations in West Africa. See www.misa.org
and www.mediafoundationwa.org for more information**

(MISA/IFEX) - The following is a joint MISA-MFWA alert:

On 27 May 2003, three armed men wearing uniforms of the Presidential elite
guard, the Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU), attacked Stanley McGill, a journalist
working with the independent newspaper "The News".

McGill had just returned from work at about 10:45 p.m. (local time) when his
assailants, who had apparently been trailing him, accosted him at gunpoint,
robbed him of his personal effects, and left with a "promise" to "get back."

This was the second attack on McGill by men wearing state security uniforms.
In April 2002, armed men suspected of belonging to the ATU assaulted the
journalist and made away with his transistor radio and cellular phone.

MFWA is concerned about the blatant abuse of the freedom of expression
rights of Liberians and, in particular, the persistent threats and attacks
on journalists and the private media in the country.

On 14 December 2002, five ATU men attacked journalist Throble Suah of "The
Inquirer" newspaper and tortured him until he lost consciousness. His
tormentors accused him of publishing stories that sought to embarrass the
government. Suah is still hospitalised in Accra, Ghana, and is undergoing
physiotherapy for sensory and motor dysfunctions.

In April 2003, the government imposed a ban on public preaching. A statement
signed by Charles Mataley, director of public affairs at the Ministry of
Justice, claimed that the measure was "for the sake of public safety." Six
FM radio stations were also recently shut down because, according to
Director of National Communication Emmanuel Todo, their "motives and scope
of operations were not clear to the government."

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send appeals to authorities:
- condeming the attack on journalist McGill
- calling on President Charles Taylor's government to respect the democratic
right of all persons in Liberia to exercise their fundamental freedoms of
thought and expression and to guarantee the security of journalists in their
exercise of those rights

APPEALS TO:

H. E. Charles Taylor
President, Republic of Liberia
Office of the President
Executive Mansion
P O Box 10-90010
Capitol Hill
1000 Monrovia 10
Republic of Liberia
Tel: +231 226 360
Fax: +231 226 076 / 226 789
E-mail: [email protected]

Mr Reginald B. Goodridge
The Minister
Ministry of Information
Capitol Hill
Monrovia, Republic of Liberia

Counsellor L Koboi Johnson
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
Ashmun Street
P O Box 9006
Monrovia, Republic of Liberia

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

For further information, contact Zoe Titus, Program Coordinator, Media
Freedom Monitoring, MISA, Street Address: 21 Johann Albrecht Street, Mailing
Address; Private Bag 13386 Windhoek, Namibia, tel: +264 61 232 975, fax:
+264 61 248 016, e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected], Internet:
http://www.misa.org, or Kwame Karikari, Executive Director, Media Foundation
for West Africa, P. O. Box LG 730, Legon, Ghana, tel: 233 21 24 24 70, fax:
+233 21 22 10 84, e-mail: [email protected], Internet:
http://www.mediafoundationwa.org

The information contained in this action alert and update is the sole
responsibility of MISA. In citing this material for broadcast or
publication, please credit MISA.
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