The Daily IIJ

When President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took the oath office on January 16, 2006, she vowed that her administration would uphold the doctrine of Freedom of the Press and Free Expression to the letter, which several of her predecessors abused in total disregard for the constitution- the organic law of the land.

 It now appears that the Unity Party government is gradually departing from its President’s solemn pledge of upholding freedom of the press, owing to what can be described as a political censorship placed on the Independent Authoritative Heritage Newspaper supposedly by the government. 

It all happened on Sunday, February 7, 2010(10: pm) when the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the Dremags Printing Press, Mr. Magnus Sidy, called the Editor-In-Chief of the Heritage, Mr. Augustus D. R. Bortue, via cell phone, inquiring  whether the Heritage had any report on its listed stories for its Monday’s edition

 concerning the ongoing General Auditing Commission (GAC) commissioned audit of Grand Bassa County Superintendent, Julius Duncan Cassell. 

The Independent Heritage Newspaper is printed by Dremags Printing Press.

Mr. Sidy, who spoke briefly with Editor Bortue on the phone, said his inquiry was warranted by an instruction he received from what he called an agent of the National Security Agency (NSA), warning him not to print the Heritage once it had the report concerning the audit of Superintendent Cassell on its listed stories.

 Mr. Sidy insisted that once the story in question was on Heritage’s stories lineup he won’t print the paper. Minutes following his discussion with Editor Bortue, the Dremags Printing Press boss spoke with the Publisher and Managing Editor of the Heritage, Mr. Mohammed M. Kanneh through Bortue’s phone, reiterating to him what he told Bortue.    

Both Bortue and Kanneh refused to respond to the inquiry of Mr. Sidy on grounds that it is absolute censorship.

Following the conversation, Bortue and Kanneh along with the paper’s production team proceeded to Dremags Printing Press and withdrew the paper’s newsprints which were earlier sent there for printing, maintaining that such strange action on the part of the management of the printing press was unprecedented and an act of political censorship.

Due to the regrettable situation, the Heritage did not appear on the newsstand on Monday, something that caused serious embarrassment to the paper’s customers and readers.

 In a bid to ascertain further explanation concerning the unmatched act, the next day, Monday, February 8, 2010, a team of Heritage Staff led by the Publisher and Managing Editor, Mr. Mohammed M. Kanneh, visited the Management of the Dremags Printing Press where they held frank discussion with the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Magnus Sidy. 

 During the discussion, Mr. Sidy restated that he received instruction from an agent of the NSA, ordering him not to print the Heritage once it had the report concerning the audit of Superintendent of Grand Bassa County and some related GAC audit reports which he failed to name.    

When he was quizzed to disclose name of the NSA agent, Mr. Sidy declined to comment. 

According to him, the unnamed NSA agent threatened to take serious action against his printing press (Dremags) if he went ahead to print the paper with the story of the Grand Bassa Superintendent.

The Dremags Chief made a clear to the visiting staff of Heritage that he will not defy the warning by the unnamed NSA agent, stressing “I have my business to protect”.

He pointed out that he is prepared to print for the Heritage once the paper is willing to put a hole on the story in question and as well stop reporting on what he referred to as some related GAC audit reports.

He said that he has nothing against the Heritage, but was only protecting his business, adding I don’t want to be drawn into Liberia’s political issues.

Mr. Sidy threatened to stop printing newspapers   if what he called the NSA continues to interfere with his printing.  

Immediately following the revelation by Mr.  Sidy, the Management of Heritage made contacts with the Director of the NSA, Mr.  Fumbah Sirleaf, for comment, but said he was not aware of the issue. However, the NSA boss promised to make contact with the Dremags Printing Press in a bid to trace the NSA agent who supposedly issued the warning not to print the Heritage. The Management of Heritage also made contact with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Press Secretary, Cyrus Wleh Badio, but the Presidential spokesman denied knowledge of the Printing Press’ claims. According to him, issuing warning against the printing of newspapers was not the policy of government, noting media institutions enjoy press freedom.

 Meanwhile, the Management of the Heritage has termed the warning supposedly issued by the NSA as media censorship and a clamp down on press Freedom and Freedom of expression as guaranteed under the Constitution of Liberia.

The paper’s management said it views the action “carried out” by the unnamed NSA agent as a replica of the Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor era when independent Media Institutions were subjected to severe censorship and in some instances attacked by state security agencies.

The Management of the Heritage said it would file a formal complaint to the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), the United States Embassy, the European Union, UNMIL, and Human Rights and Pro Democracy Institutions among others concerning the “strange action” by the NSA.

It can be recalled that  a fortnight ago, the Press Union of Liberia(PUL) strongly condemned  and rejected  what appeared to be an intimidating policy of the Government of President Sirleaf expressed in the harassment of commercial printing houses whenever there is a publication the Government considers unfavorable.

PUL said the arrest of the owner of SEAMARCO Printing Press by the National Security Agency clearly represented a calculated ploy to subject the printer to psychological torture and the rule of fear. Mr. Michael Mankine was jailed at the National Security Agency in December of last year.

PUL believed that this kind of anti-media maneuvering by government is aimed at pushing printers to begin screening and editing newspaper contents before printing, thereby leading to absolute censorship and an impediment to press freedom.

“This is the third time the Sirleaf administration has used the NSA and the Ministry of Information to prey on printing houses. The Union recalled  the publication of the Independent Newspaper four years ago of a sex scandal involving President Sirleaf’s Minister of State as well as the seizure of the New Broom and Bi-Lingual newspapers at which time the printers were prohibited from publishing papers,” the Union noted.

Demanding the release from further detention of the innocent man, the Press Union urged Government to abandon its intimidating policy that has the propensity to scare the press into submission and self-censorship. The Union called on Government to focus its attention on the author of the story, the Plain Truth.

Mr. Mankine was arrested and detained in connection with the Plain Truth publication of December 9, captioned: “Ellen Government Supplying Guinean Dissident Arms?…Military Junta Alleges.