DANGEROUS TREND AGAIN! President Sirleaf and her government are again muzzling the press in Liberia after todays forceful seizure, violent closure and subsequent arrest of some staff of the National Chronicle Newspaper including its Publisher, Philibert Browne. This clampdown on a media entity is not just utterly unacceptable but a sheer act of intolerance embedded with tyranny. To use the police to forcefully seize, seal and arrest journalists amounts to a gross disregard for democratic tenets - which is the trait of an autocratic regime. No matter how reckless or unprofessional a journalist or media entity might be, it is flatly an abuse of powers to use the police as a civil tool to harrass that journalist or media institution. Its even a disgrace for a country with a nobel laureate as President to witness unabated attacks against journalists and the media. If this was one of the sinister reasons of declaring a state of emergency to generally combat the infectious Ebola virus, then, the President and her government must stand ready to bear the full consequences as no one that harrasses the press is capable of surviving. The fall of strongmen and dictators like Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor are a fresh reminder. If it is the end-game, then let us know. For us, we strongly believe that a government without a free and independent media is not an option for Liberia or any society!
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 22:28:50 +0000