The leadership of the Reporters Association of Liberia (RAL) has backed a plan by the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) to take legal action against the Liberia National Police (LNP) for brutality meted against its Financial Secretary, Hannah Getermenah, and another member, Trojan Kiazolu.
RAL says it wants the Press Union to not take lightly the brutality, but to take speedy action if the LNP fails to penalize all those involved with brutalizing the female journalist and assaulting journalist Kiazolu. On Friday, June 24, 2021, the President of the Press Union of Liberia, Charles Coffey, had instructed PUL’s Secretary-General, Musa Kanneh, the Secretary-General of Reporters Association of Liberia, Mark N. Mengonfia, and Financial SG, Hannah Geterminah, to intervene in a situation involving journalist Kiazolu, FABRIC FM, and the LNP, which later led to serious argument.
Accordingly, when RAL FSG and others went to the Metro Police Station and noticed journalist Kiazolu being attacked, she decided to protect her colleague, Kiazolu, but was in the aftermath slapped two times. At the same time, her clothes were torn.
In the face of this situation, RAL strongly condemned the act of violence against its members and requested that justice prevails. “The RAL sees these continued attacks on journalists in Liberia as a calculated attempt to silence the press in Liberia. This is unbecoming, and we will not at all times accept this from the security guards of Liberia,” RAL said in a press release.
“As the largest auxiliary of the PUL, we are calling on the leadership of the LNP to handle the situation quickly or we (RAL) are going to take legal action against the LNP. In this light, the leadership of the Reporters Association of Liberia is also calling on the government of Liberia (GOL) to address all of PUL and RAL complaints before it since March 2020.”