spot_imgspot_img
Monday, October 7, 2024

CPJ WELCOMES US COURT RULING THAT HAITIAN MAYOR WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR 2008 RADIO STATION ATTACK

Date:

Washington, D.C — In response to a Boston court’s ruling Tuesday finding former Haitian Mayor Jean Morose Viliena responsible for attacking the New Vision Radio community radio station in 2008, the Committee to Protect Journalist issued the following statement:

“It is heartening to see the recognition of former Haitian Mayor Jean Morose Viliena’s crimes, including the 2008 attack on a community radio station, after a decades-long pursuit of justice,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “Those who seek to violently silence the free flow of information should be held to account no matter where they are located. This verdict shows that the United States is not a safe haven for those attempting to evade justice.”

In 2008, Viliena and his armed supporters ransacked New Vision Radio, a station in Les Irois operated and financed by members of the Struggling People’s Party and which broadcasted local news, political debates, and gospel music, according to the Center for Justice and Accountability, a San Francisco-based human rights organization that served as representation in the civil complaint against Viliena, along with two private law firms.

On Tuesday, March 22, the plaintiffs, including the son of the man who owned the building where the radio station rented a room, were awarded $15.5 million in damages, including $11 million in punitive damages by the jury for the attacks on the station as well as other instances of political violence, according to a press release by the CJA. Viliena denied any wrongdoing, according to The Associated Press.

Haitian authorities arrested Viliena in 2008 in relation to the killing of a man who had accused him of misconduct as well as the shootings of two people at the New Vision Radio office, building owner Nissage Martyr and local high school student Juders Ysemé. Martyr was shot in the leg during that attack, and Ysemé was blinded in one eye, according to the CJA press release.

Viliena was provisionally released and then fled to the United States, according to news reports. The plaintiffs filed a civil complaint in a U.S. District Court in 2017, and Nissage Martyr died later that year. The complaint was filed under the 1991 Torture Victim Protection Act, which allows for the filing of U.S. civil lawsuits against foreign officials who allegedly committed wrongdoing in their home countries, if all legal avenues in their homeland have been exhausted.

“I agreed to have the station at my house because I know the media would serve the population,” Nissage Martyr said in 2017, according to those reports, saying that Viliena “did not like the radio station and destroyed it because he knew that the population would become aware of the crimes he was committing.”

smartnews
Smart News Liberia is an online news outlet and a product of Smart Media Group Inc. Our website, smartnewsliberia.com, covers a broad spectrum of news content. For inquiries or information, you can reach us at 0777425285 or 0886946925, or email us at smartnewsliberia@gmail.com or info@smartnewsliberia.com.

LATEST DEVELOPMENT

PRESIDENT BOAKAI’S WHEELBARROW REMARK EXPOSES HYPOCRISY AMID MODAD’S $96,000 VEHICLE SCANDAL

MONROVIA – President Joseph Boakai’s declaration, "I can ride...

FORMER FINANCE MINISTER TWEAH FACES ARREST AS STATE CHALLENGES $8 MILLION BOND AMID MAJOR CORRUPTION TRIAL

MONROVIA – Former Finance Minister Samuel Tweah's legal troubles...

EYEWITNESS REPORT IN THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF EMMANUEL BARTEN NYESWA

MONROVIA, LIBERIA – The mysterious death of Emmanuel Barten...

BOAKAI’S MISPLACED AMBITIONS AS LIBERIA BLEEDS AND THE PRESIDENT COURTS GLOBAL VANITY

Eight months into his presidency, Joseph Boakai’s administration is...

TAKE IMMEDIATE PRECAUTIONS TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF MPOX – STAY ALERT, STAY PROTECTED

As Liberia confronts the resurgence of Mpox, the confirmation...

NO JUSTIFICATION FOR HIGH SALARIES OF BOAKAI ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS AMID ECONOMIC STRUGGLES

In the midst of Liberia's current economic struggles, revelations...

LIBERIA’S POLITICAL CRISIS: A CALL FOR RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP AMID ESCALATING TENSIONS

The recent clash between the Coalition for Democratic Change...

COMMENTARY

THE MASS DISMISSAL OF LIBERIAN PUBLIC SERVANTS: A TROUBLING TREND UNDER THE BOAKAI ADMINISTRATION

A Commentary by Wondah L. Jah Since assuming the presidency,...

SECURITY RISKS: IS PRESIDENT BOAKAI UNKNOWINGLY SETTING THE STAGE FOR EARLY COUP D’ÉTAT?

In his commentary, Liberian political analyst Vandalerk R. Patricks...

IS JOSEPH BOAKAI LISTENING TO PROTESTS AROUND AFRICA?

A Commentary By Wondah L. Jah In January, Joseph Boakai,...

LATEST NEWS

MFDP PUBLISHES $738.86 MILLION NATIONAL BUDGET AMIDST CRITICISM

MONROVIA, LIBERIA - As required by the amended 2019 Public...

PRESIDENT BOAKAI CONDEMNS ESCALATION OF CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND IRAN

MONROVIA, (EXECUTIVE MANSION) – President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr.,...

Share post:

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

OPINION

AMERICA’S NEGLECT OF LIBERIA: A CALL FOR CHANGE

An Opinion By Bishop Dr. Rudolph Q. Kwanue, Sr A...

AMID AN UNENDING WAR AGAINST POVERTY, INJUSTICES – HAS THE PROGRESSIVE STRUGGLE BECOME LOST IN TRANSLATION?

A Patriot's Diary With Ekena Wesley What manner of Liberian progressives...

HAS PRESIDENT BOAKAI’S GOVERNMENT BEGUN BEARING GOOD FRUITS? (PART1)

By Jacob N.B. Parley Following a careful reflection, I have...

ELEVATING THE AG BIBLE COLLEGE TO A UNIVERSITY: A MILESTONE ACHIEVEMENT

By Jacob N.B. Parley After many years of successful preaching...

THE DILEMMA OF PRESIDENTIAL SUPREMACY IN LIBERIA: EXAMINING THE BALANCE OF POWER

By Dr. Clarence R. Pearson, Sr. Superior presidency is the...

THE GALLERY

spot_imgspot_img

MORE ARTICLES

spot_imgspot_img

MORE NEWS

LATEST DEVELOPMENT NEWS

LATEST CRIME NEWS

Share via
Copy link