Liberia / Africa

Liberian police on August 11, 2014, assaulted Henry Karmo, a journalist with the independent FrontPageAfrica newspaper, while he was photographing protesters in the capital, Monrovia, demonstrating against the imposition of a 90-day state of emergency by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, according to news reports. The directive was aimed at controlling the spread of the deadly…

Economists and political scientists acknowledge that journalism is vital to development and democracy. By Robert Mahoney

Surveillance, restrictive Internet legislation, and cyberattacks compel CPJ to add cyberspace to the list of places trending in the wrong direction. By Maya Taal

Risk List underlines mass surveillance, fatalities, and censorship New York, February 6, 2014–Mass surveillance programs by the U.S. and U.K., as well as restrictive Internet legislation by various governments and a wave of cyberattacks globally, are among the disturbing developments that have landed cyberspace on the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Risk List, released today.

A court in the capital Monrovia on November 18, 2013, officially ordered the release from prison of FrontPageAfrica publisher Rodney Sieh and the reopening of the offices of the private daily newspaper, according to news reports. The newspaper will resume its daily publication on November 25, 2013, Sieh told CPJ.

New York, October 8, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Monday’s decision by Liberia’s Ministry of Justice to grant Rodney Sieh–the publisher of FrontPageAfrica who has been jailed since August for not paying libel damages–“compassionate release” for 30 days. The conditions behind Sieh’s release were not clear, but the journalist’s health had deteriorated in prison.…

Dear President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: We call on you to decriminalize defamation; adopt monetary damages for libel commensurate with the harm done and within limits Liberians can afford; and halt the incarceration of defendants unable to pay, which is highly unusual in civil cases. We urge you to facilitate the release of jailed journalist Rodney Sieh and the reopening of his newspaper, FrontPageAfrica.

New York, August 28, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by today’s hospitalization of leading Liberian independent journalist Rodney Sieh, who has been on hunger strike since his imprisonment on August 21.