Liberia’s Weah, media on edge as reporter flees

With one Liberian newspaper facing a $1.8 million defamation case and a BBC journalist fleeing the country, there has been no honeymoon period for the press under the new government of President George Weah. Accused of wanting to muzzle the media, the president has attempted to reassure journalists saying they would have a “200 per cent freedom of expression and press freedom under my government”. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), however, has expressed concern over the $1.8 million in defamation suits against Front Page Africa, a Liberian newspaper that has carried critical coverage of successive governments.

“Liberia has a troubling history of libel lawsuits where applicants ask for exorbitant damages simply to harass and intimidate journalists, resulting in their imprisonment or the closure of news outlets,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ Africa programme coordinator.

UN’S rapporteur on freedom of expression David Kaye expressed concern over the consequences of large financial penalties in civil libel suits against Liberian journalists and newspapers.

The Ministry of Information has denied any government involvement in the law suits against Front Page Africa which relate to a private dispute following the publication of an advertisement.

But the newspaper’s management and the CPJ blame the situation on its criticism of those in power, highlighting the presence among the complainants of a former member of Weah’s party.

In another media drama, the BBC’S correspondent Jonathan Payelayleh left the country saying he feared reprisals by supporters of the president after Weah accused him of being against him.

“My fears go beyond the possibility of the president ordering my arrest some day and formally unsealing the indictment that he has already hinted (at) by his verbal attack,” Paye-layleh said in a message to colleagues.

Weah’s accusation against the journalist in March followed a visit by UN deputy Secretary-general Amina Mohammed and a question from the journalist on the sensitive subject of the setting up a court for the perpetrators of crimes committed during the 1989-2003 civil war. A large number of figures directly implicated in the civil war still occupy important positions in the country.

A few days later, Weah said he did not harbour any animosity towards the correspondent.

At a meeting last week, press bosses said they were “alarmed” by the recent escalation of threats, intimidation and harassment of journalists, according to The Press Union of Liberia (PUL). “With the departure of the United Nations Mission in Liberia, the government is the biggest player in the media economy,” the PUL noted.