MONROVIA – The Solicitor General of Liberia, Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephas has threatened to seize the equipment, shutdown and prosecute media institutions who may publish or air what he referred to as ‘fake news’ this state of emergency which was declared to help curtail the spread of coronavirus in the country.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
“There is a state of emergency, what has happened under Article 87 [of the Constitution] is that all basic fundamental rights have been suspended…” he said.
According to him, under that same article, subsection ‘b’, the issue of free speech, by law and by the declaration that curtails of freedom of assembly effectively might also affect free speech.
“This government has been quite tolerant in allowing people to clearly and distinctly express their views,” he said.
“Beginning today there will be no more warning, I repeat, I am the Solicitor General and Chief Prosecutor of this Republic, there will be no more warning. Any media institution that decides to spread fake news, we’ll just move in and seize your equipment, we’ll keep it and we’ll ask for the revocation of your license until after the coronavirus. And even after that, there will be a contest in court and it would be difficult for you to get your license.”
– Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephas
He alleged that some media institutions have been using their platforms to spread ‘fake news’, which, according to him, is hindering the government’s effort in the COVID-19 fight. He, however, did not cite an example of such fake news or the media entities involved.
Cllr. Cephas emphasized: “Beginning today there will be no more warning, I repeat, I am the Solicitor General and Chief Prosecutor of this Republic, there will be no more warning. Any media institution that decides to spread fake news, we’ll just move in and seize your equipment, we’ll keep it and we’ll ask for the revocation of your license until after the coronavirus. And even after that, there will be a contest in court and it would be difficult for you to get your license.
“So, we want to send out a clear message – stop spreading false news, do the right thing. We have gotten enough of that. We want to send out this message, there will be no warning, this is the last warning.”
He also said people residing in Liberia who spread falsehoods on social media like Facebook would be haunted and prosecuted during the state of emergency.
His warning comes barely 24 hours after unverified news of President George Weah being positive for coronavirus went viral on Facebook.
The Minister of State later debunked the speculation and clarified that the President is well and healthy.
