Liberia: CPJ Expresses Renewed Concern About Safety of Journalist

Liberia: CPJ Expresses Renewed Concern About Safety of Journalist

Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA Phone: (212) 465-1004
Fax: (212) 465-9568 Web: www.cpj.org E-Mail: [email protected]

August 15, 2002

President Charles G. Taylor
President of the Republic of Liberia
Monrovia, Liberia

Via facsimile: 231-225-217

Your Excellency:

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is extremely concerned about the
whereabouts and the safety of Hassan Bility, editor-in-chief of The Analyst
newspaper, which is based in Liberia's capital, Monrovia. He has been held
incommunicado in state custody for almost two months.

Bility and two associates-Ansumana Kamara and Mohammed Kamara-were arrested June
24 on suspicion of collaborating with the rebel group Liberians United for
Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). On June 26, Minister of Information
Reginald Goodridge told a press conference that Bility and the two others were
in government custody. Soon after, Judge Winston O. Henries ordered the
government to produce the accused men in court by July 1, and, even though he
granted the government a two-day extension to comply, the accused were never
brought to his court.

On July 9, Judge Henries ruled that the court had no jurisdiction over the
accused since they are "unlawful combatants" and said they should be tried
before a military court.

According to several reports from news organizations and human rights groups, on
July 25, the Court Martial Board, Liberia's military court, gave the government
an August 7 deadline to produce Hassan Bility. However, the Ministry of National
Defense later declared the writ "null and void," claiming that the individuals
who issued the writ were not authorized to do so. Immediately after, the
president of the Court Martial Board denied having issued the writ.

Meanwhile, Bility and his associates remain in custody, and no court proceedings
have been carried out. Although government officials insist that Bility's arrest
was unconnected to his work, CPJ research shows that his publication, the
independent weekly The Analyst, has been extremely critical of your regime.
This year, the government has closed the paper twice, and police ransacked its
offices in April.

As a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to the defense of our
colleagues worldwide, we urge you once again to do everything within your power
to ensure that Bility and his associates appear in court and are either formally
charged or released.

Thank you for your immediate attention to these urgent matters. We await your
response.

Sincerely,

...OLE_Obj...>>
Ann Cooper
Executive Director

CC:
H.E. Mr. William V.S. Bull, Liberian Ambassador to the United States
American Society of Newspaper Editors
Amnesty International
Article 19 (United Kingdom)
Artikel 19 (The Netherlands)
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Freedom Forum
Freedom House
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
International Center for Journalists
International Federation of Journalists
International PEN
International Press Institute
Lorne W. Craner, United States Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human
Rights, and Labor
The Newspaper Guild
The North American Broadcasters Association
Overseas Press Club
Reporters Sans Frontières
Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Society of Professional Journalists
World Association of Newspapers
World Press Freedom Committee