THE NATION FACES mounting incumbent-opposition Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) tension. The Political Leader of the CDC and former President of the Republic of Liberia, Ambassador George M. Weah, has officially written the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and copied the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), the government of the United States (US), African Union (AU) and China regarding the alleged unprovoked attack on the headquarters of the party on Thursday, August 22, 2024 by security forces of the Boakai administration βunder the guise of effecting a drug raidβ.
EX-PRESIDENT WEAH, IN his three-page letter to the President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Omar Alieu Turay, stated that the alleged premeditated and callous act of violence targeted at the country’s main opposition political party is the latest in a series of actions by the Boakai administration to trample upon political freedoms, disregard the laws of the land, undermine democracy and stoke tension in the country.
βWHILE THE CDC has ostensibly demonstrated its utmost regard for the maintenance of the hard-earned peace and respect for the rule of law, as was displayed recently through a peaceful transfer of power, we refuse to sit idly by and watch these transgressions persist,β President Weah stated in his letter. βCurrently, following the ill-fated raid at our headquarters, the government has detained scores of our partisans and other citizens at the Monrovia Central Prison on trumped up charges. We demand their immediate and unconditional release.β
THE LIBERIA NATIONAL Police (LNP) has disclosed that fourteen persons were arrested during the violent protest that occurred at the headquarters of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) on Thursday, August 22, 2024. The LNP said they were charged with the multiple crimes of criminal attempt to commit murder, criminal facilitation, criminal solicitation, criminal conspiracy, physical obstruction of governmentβs function, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, criminal mischief, riot, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct, and obstructing highway and other public passages, and that they have been charged and sent to court for legal proceedings.
THE LNP SAID it remains committed to maintaining peace and order in the communities, and urged all citizens to refrain from engaging in violent activities and to cooperate with law enforcement authorities,β the LNP release observed. The police termed as untrue and misleading information circulating on social media platforms that the man who was seen unconscious and being helped by LNP officers during the violent protest in Congo Town died.
