The leadership of the Reporters Association of Liberia (RAL) says they are troubled by an alleged brutal act melted against OK FM-assigned Judicial Reporter, Richard Watson, by an officer of the Judiciary, and condemns in the strongest term what they called “the barbarity against one of its members”.
The RAL leadership said they have reliably gathered that the vicious act was allegedly orchestrated on the order of the Chief of Security at the Judiciary, without any resolve of alerting leaders of the Judicial Reporters, and that Judicial securities at the same time allegedly forcibly infiltrated the office of the Judicial Reporters, damaging the doors and other material.
“Colleagues, the Reporters Association of Liberia, through its leadership, has further ascertained that the Supreme Court of Liberia recognizes the Association of Judicial Reporters; therefore, such a cranky attitude should not be tolerated in any manner,” RAL said in a press release.
“In this light, RAL hereby calls for a comprehensive and impartial investigation to bring the unfortunate situation to a logical conclusion at the soonest possible time.
“The RAL, which has direct supervision over all reporters across Liberia, believes that an immediate investigation into the saga is best for the court administrators, court bailiffs and journalists covering the Judiciary,” the professional media body said.
“We also want to appreciate the leadership of AJUR for appointing an ad-hoc committee, headed by its Secretary-General, Stephen Roberts, to ensure that our colleague gets justice as we all prepare for providing delicate reportage for the country and the Liberian people.”
The RAL leadership, headed by Willie N. Tokpah, Sr., assured all journalists across the country that it remains committed to providing security and as well going after the welfare of media practitioners in the country.
“Meanwhile, RAL wants to clarify that its leadership remains united in fostering the welfare of reporters and disagreement on issues by any of its officials in any way creates a bottleneck for the effective running of the institution,” the Reporters Association observed. “Together, we can build and maintain an independent media that will properly communicate happenings in the country.”