Liberia: Continuing concern for safety of arrested journalist
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN says it remains "deeply concerned" for the safety of journalist Hassan Bility in the light of the latest failure to have him brought before a court.
RAPID ACTION NETWORK
9 August 2002
Update #2 to RAN 34/02
Liberia: Continuing concern for safety of arrested journalist
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN remains deeply concerned
for the safety of Hassan Bility in the light of the latest failure to have him
brought before a court.
The latest writ of habeas corpus, issued by a military court on 31 July 2002,
was rejected by the Minister of Defence on the grounds that President Charles
Taylor had not ordered the Military Court to sit. The secretary of the Military
Tribunal, Col. Ramsay who signed the writ, was arrested. The government had
failed on four previous occasions to produce Bility and others in a civil court.
Bility, the editor of the newspaper The Analyst, was, on 24 June 2002, detained,
along with two others amidst claims by Information Minister Reginald Goodridge
that he was running a Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD)
"terrorist cell" engaged in the attempted overthrow of the government. A LURD
spokesperson has denied that Bility is a member of or sympathiser with their
organisation.
For further details contact Dixe Wills at the Writers in Prison Committee London
Office: 9-10 Charterhouse Buildings, London EC1M 7AT UK Tel: + 44 (0) 20 72 53
32 26 Fax: + 44 (0) 20 72 53 57 11 e-mail: [email protected]
Dixe Wills
Africa and Americas Researcher
Writers in Prison Committee
International PEN