Liberian Government Attempts to Assassinate Oforie Diah

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 24, 2012

PRESS STATEMENT

It well over 48 hours since the Government of Liberia, by and through the National Police, arrested and detained Mr. Oforie Diah, a Liberian and son of Grand Gedeh County. Mr. Diah is yet to be charged by the Government of Liberia for any crime they may have suspected him to have committed. Mr. Diah is a peace-loving man.

Oforie Diah

Latest reports say instead of the Police charging Mr. Diah and submitting him to the legal process in a court of competent jurisdiction, Police Director Chris Massaquoi ordered that Mr. Diah be turned over the National Security Agency (NSA), where he will be tortured and forced to confess to crimes he did not commit. Other Grand Gedeans have been tortured at the NSA before. As of 6:00pm Liberian time, Mr. Diah should in the custody of the NSA, while he is yet to be charged with any crime. This is violation of Mr. Diah’s right as the Liberian Constitution provides that a suspect arrested by the police must be charged within 48 hours and sent to court to face trial in a court of competent jurisdiction.

Even more appalling is latest inside information from the headquarters of the police that the authority of the police had tried two days ago to assassinate Mr. Oforie Diah. According to a very credible inside source in the middle hierarchy of the police, the police planted two plain clothes security officers around Mr. Diah’s residence to monitor him 24 hours. Our source said they were given petrol bombs to kill Mr. Diah in his own residence. The act would have been blamed on armed robbers. Mr. Diah narrowly escaped the assassination plot.

Luckily for Mr. Diah, the petrol bombs went off with no harm to his person. Following the explosion, Mr. Diah ran to the police to report the incident but he was rather arrested and detained instead of the police going to his rescue. Our source said the police authority lied about Bobby Sarpee Julu, the ninth Grand Gedean in the police custody for weeks now without charges, that he confessed Mr. Oforie Diah’s name as one of the people who have part to play in the Ivorian crisis.

We very strong believe that the government is still bent on witch-hunting Grand Gedeans. The government lied about Mr. Diah and others recently and declared them most wanted for allegedly launching an attack in la Cote d’Ivoire, when in fact Mr. Diah and seven (7) others were nowhere around the area do the incident. The security authority declared them free but issued them pass to move around in their own country.

We must remind President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf that witch-hunting Grand Gedeans all through her administration is a mistake. We cannot be broken by any strategy by her or her cronies by intimidating, harassing, persecuting, and incriminating Grand Gedeans. Madam Sirleaf should be aware that she and her children will be repaid in her own coin of every action she takes against the people of Grand Gedeh County. This is a caveat!

Gibson W. Jerue

Journalist, Author & Advocate