Naughty Knuckles newspaper free to publish

Monrovia - The government of Liberia has lifted the ban imposed on the Independent newspaper. Information Minister Dr Laurence Bropleh announced the lifting of the ban when he addressed journalists on 30 May 2007.

The government, on 27 February, revoked the operational permit of the Independent after it published a photograph showing President Ellen Sirleaf's then chief of office staff Willis Knuckles engaging in group sex with two ladies.

Announcing the lifting of the ban at a press conference held in Monrovia, Dr Bropleh said the action to revoke the newspaper's permit was in keeping with the Ministry of Information's statutory mandate to serve as regulator and enforcement body of the government on matters affecting communication in the country. He, however, vowed that the government would continue to work for press freedom in Liberia.

The newspaper's legal counsellor Attorney Serius Cephas has described the government's decision to lift the ban on the newspaper as a sham. He told CEMESP that the Independent is seeking justice, and not pardon. He described as an irony for the government, who happens to be the defendant in the case, to pardon instead of the complainant (the Independent).

"We want the Supreme Court to rule on the matter," Attorney Cephas said (on being banned, the Independent filed a lawsuit against the government for the illegal closure of the newspaper).

Source: CEMESP