The Government of Liberia wishes to clarify that it is not a party to the lawsuit brought against the Management of the Spoon Network, which on Friday, July 14 resulted in the closure of the station’s premises in Monrovia.
A press statement issued today and signed by the Minister of Information, Ledgerhood J. Rinnie notes that GoL understands that the suit was instead filed months ago by Mr Wilmont Smith, a private citizen of the country, who once served as Deputy Director General for Information Coordination at LISGIS.
The statement also notes that Mr Smith stated in his lawsuit that following his dismissal from the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo-information Services for Administrative Reasons by President George M. Weah, the station used its network to defame his reputation, characterising him as a “Criminal”.
The case involving the two parties was brought before the court and has been ongoing for several months. A writ was issued against the Spoon FM’s Management and its owner, Mr Stanton Witherspoon, on Friday morning, July 14, 2023, the statement narrates.
“The Government of Liberia re-emphasizes that it respects the right to freedom of speech and of the press as it has always demonstrated, but is also cognizant of the fact that an individual feeling injured by the work of a media entity also has the right to seek redress under the laws of Liberia.”
The statement further states that the courts, which are an integral part of the Judicial Branch of the Government, are independent of the Executive Branch, which has got no part in this private legal saga.
Meanwhile, the government is appalled by the irresponsible attempt of the standard bearer of the opposition Unity Party to score political capital out of a routine legal matter. The Weah-led administration’s press freedom record remains enviable, which has been repeatedly attested to by all international partners, including outgoing U.S. Ambassador Michael McCarthy.
Attempts by the UP Standard Bearer and others to link the government to this purely private legal matter are simply ridiculous, to say the least, the statement concludes.
Ledgerwood, really? Do you believe all that the MICAT release is stating about the closure of Spoon’s media outlet?
So you don’t see the hidden hands behind the supposedly individual legal action against Spoon? If Spoon was singing the praise of George Weah, as Kef Hassan and Ben Sanvee are doing on their low-rated ‘Closing Argument’, do you think Spoon would have been shut down in the way and manner in which it was done today? Don’t you think it’s a desperate action by a desperate George Weah and his CDC party as they are now convinced that the October 10 vote will end their corruption spree, their gross human rights violations and their crazy acquisition of ill-gotten wealth? You don’t also think the embarrassing exposure by Spoon TV yesterday of CDC’s tactic to bring in Israeli IT experts to influence or rig the outcome of the Presidential election is one of the key reasons that has led to this undemocratic behavior by the Weah regime, and that closure of the widely listened to stations is another suggestion from Weah’s advisers like Samuel Tweh, Acarious Gray, Jefferson Koijee and Samuel Jackson to strike at media houses that are diminishing his chances of winning the elections. Ba, no one is stupid here.