Liberia: Daily Observer Journalists Harassed By Police

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns this act of aggression and intimidation by the police, meted out to journalists who simply reported on an issue of public interest.

The story was published on 31 December 2024 by the Daily Observer. It highlighted “the mysterious death of Anwar Futloo” and “a potential political scandal of seismic proportions”, including “explosive allegations involving Liberia’s top officials”.

Both journalists were summoned to the police headquarters, in the Liberian capital Monrovia, on 6 January. They were subsequently detained and interrogated about their reporting on the death of Anwar Futloo.

According to local media, journalists Best and Yates were subjected to hours of grilling interrogations, on the orders of Deputy Inspector General, Simeon Frank. He accused the Daily Observer of “derailing his investigation and dismissed the journalists’ right to pursue an independent inquiry into the death of Anwar Futloo”. The two journalists were only allowed to leave after Best was “coerced into signing a release note, guaranteeing that Yates will return to the police for further questioning on 9 January”.

Upon their return to the police headquarters on 9 January, Yates was further interrogated and once again asked to return to the police on 14 January.

Managing Director Bai Best asserted that the Daily Observer’s ordeal “exemplifies a worrying trend of state harassment of journalists in Liberia. This is not about cooperation, it is about intimidation. The LNP actions undermine the role of the press as a watchdog”.

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said that the grilling interrogations and detention of journalists Bai Best and David Yates were an act of intimidation, designed to curb independent journalism and discredit their work. “The journalists were simply doing their jobs and should not have been detained under any circumstances. In fact, their report could even be used to help the police in their investigations into the killing of Anwar Futloo,” Bellanger added.

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