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President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia
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Two Liberian journalists were arrested
and charged with criminal libel after blaming the government of corruption.
Two
Liberian journalists appeared in court in Monrovia on Friday charged with
criminal libel after accusing the government of corruption on national radio.
Octavin
Williams and Rufus Paul were arrested on Thursday after criticising ministers
on Hot FM's
Henry Costa talk show for giving a $13 million road maintenance contract to a
company they said was connected to family of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
They
claimed the job should have been offered for no more than $100,000, telling the
host: "We just want to tell Liberians that this is how our money is being
misused."
The
journalists told AFP the police had been listening to the hour-long interview
and were ready to meet them outside the station's Monrovia headquarters as the
show finished.
"When
we got out of the studio, we were issued a writ of arrest. We called the
president of the press union who went to the court with us but when we got
there, we were immediately sent to prison," said Williams, after both men
were bailed.
Their
case, adjourned until Monday, is the second recent high-profile criminal action
against journalists which critics have described as part of a worrying
clampdown on press freedom.
Rodney
Sieh, editor of the Frontpage
Africa newspaper, was
taken into custody on August 21 following a Supreme Court ruling that the
paper should pay $1.6 million (1.2 million euros) for libelling former
agriculture minister J. Chris Toe.
Sieh,
who has been treated for malaria, was returned to prison from a three-week
hospital stay this week, drawing criticism from international rights groups.
Human
Rights Watch called on Liberia to ensure damages in civil cases brought by
public officials were proportionate and said politicians shouldn't be able to
"squelch press freedom with big-ticket lawsuits against the media".
Source: DCMF
Source: DCMF
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