By: G. Bennie Bravo Johnson, I.
The Liberian Judiciary has hit back at the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), terming a statement from the Union’s president which accuses magistrates in Rivercess County of targeting journalists as “reckless, ill-informed and misguided”
In a statement in response to the PUL’s August 15, 2025 statement, the Judiciary said: “At no time did the magistrates named in the PUL’s statement abuse their judicial powers or authority to unlawfully arrest and detain two journalists as insinuated by the president of the Union.”
The Judiciary further stressed that it was “abhorred by such statement emanating from a body that is not only charged with the responsibility to ensure that the journalism profession is practiced with professionalism but also to guide the profession from abuse by society misfits who profess to be journalists.”
Detailing the case, the Judiciary said the two journalists falsely reported that Police Officer Ojuku Weeks had been arrested on drug charges and later released after allegedly bribing a magistrate. The Judiciary noted: “The police officer, Ojuku Weeks, had never been arrested for any drug offense, nor had he ever appeared before the magistrate on any charge.”
Following the publication, Weeks filed a complaint through the Ministry of Justice, which led to the journalists being charged with Criminal Coercion. At the same time, the magistrate also issued contempt charges against the reporters. According to the Judiciary, “These journalists were brought before the court, their rights read to them, including the right to bail, and due to the fact that they had no one to sign for their release at the time, they were incarcerated and subsequently released after meeting the bail conditions.”
The Judiciary underscored that magistrates acted lawfully: “Like every judicial system around the world, the courts in Liberia have the inherent power, by the laws of this country, to protect the sanctity of the Judiciary from any act that is intended to defame the courts and bring it to public disrepute.”
The statement also took aim at the PUL leadership, accusing it of undermining professional standards: “The Liberian Judiciary frowns on the statement issued by the president of the PUL, terming it as a failure of the PUL to uphold the professional standards of journalism by condemning those two journalists and bringing them to book for flagrant violation of the ethics of the profession.”
On the question of press freedom, the Judiciary cautioned against misuse: “The fact that there exists the Kamara Abdullah Kamara Act of Press Freedom and Liberia’s accession to the Table Mountain Declaration, in no way give journalists the right and a carte blanche to write or report unfounded accusations that bring the image of the Liberian Judiciary to public disrepute.”
Reaffirming its stance, the Judiciary warned that it would continue to defend its integrity: “For too long the image and reputation of the Liberian Judiciary and its personnel, to include justices, judges and magistrates, have been defamed and brought to public disrepute by false, malicious and reckless reportage without any guardrails erected by the PUL.”
It concluded by stressing its constitutional mandate: “As the courts of this land uphold and protect the rights of every person within this Republic to freedom of expression and free speech, the Judiciary will spare no efforts in holding persons fully responsible for the abuse thereof as enshrined in Article 15 (a) of the Constitution of Liberia (1986).”
