Thousands of protesters from the Alternative National Congress (ANC) and Liberty Party (LP) were heavily tear-gassed and dislodged by officers of the Liberia National Police (LNP) while peacefully protesting on Capitol Hill, in solidarity with the Political Leader and Standard Bearer of the ANC, Alexander B. Cummings.
In a press statement issued Tuesday, January 18, 2022, The ANC and LP, constituent members of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), in their own names and jointly, condemned “the unprovoked attack on the peaceful citizens by the Government of Liberia (GOL) through the Liberia National Police (LNP), which led to multiple bodily injuries and disruptions along the Camp Johnson Road and Capitol Hill corridors.
“These peaceful Liberians were displaying banners and posters calling for justice and indicating solidarity with the Standard Bearer of the ANC, Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, who is being politically prosecuted by the Government of Liberia at the Monrovia Magisterial Court, at the Temple of Justice, in Monrovia, on bogus misdemeanor charges of ‘forgery and criminal conspiracy’, as complained by the All Liberian Party of Mr. Benoni Wilfred Urey.”
The LP and the ANC emphasized that the government has a duty to protect the people and not to intimidate and/or injure them, especially when they freely and peaceably assemble to express themselves. “The exercise of the right to peacefully assemble, demonstrate and rally is a function of democracy, which by its unprovoked actions today, the Weah-led government is attempting to deny peaceful citizens. We are appalled by the action of the government and are gathering information on the extent of the injuries made on these peaceful Liberian citizens.
“We stand with the Liberian people and strongly oppose any action, including today’s unprovoked attacks on peaceful citizens, which attempts to undermine Liberia’s young democracy and peace, for which many Liberians bled, suffered and died. Accordingly, the ANC and the LP insist and calls in the Weah-led government to abide by the laws of the country, and do not betray its responsibility to protect Liberians, especially as they exercise their rights to peacefully assemble,” the press statement noted.
