By Lewis S. Teh
A day after the Government of Liberia extradited Sierra Leone’s former chief of police, Mohammed Y. Toure alias “Sankoh Paul Alimamy”, who was accused of involvement in a coup plot back home, the Standard Bearer of the opposition Liberia People’s Party (LPP) Cllr Tiawan Saye Gongloe accuses the Liberian government of conspiring with its Sierra Leonean counterpart to prosecute opponents of President Julius Maada Bio.
Cllr. Gongloe reveals that the individual in question was accused of attempting to overthrow a sitting government in Sierra Leone, but record shows that he ran to Liberia since 2022.
He notes that neighboring Sierra Leone just got thru with elections in July and there is an emotional atmosphere in that country saying “I consider this as a political figure, as a conspiracy between the current Governments of Liberia and Sierra Leone to protect each other mutually from opponents, and this not good for our country.”
According to him, this action of the Liberian government undermines peace and security of the Mano River region and is bad because politicians in Liberia are potential victims of such actions because they could be running to Sierra Leone for safety and be returned to Liberia.
Addressing a news conference in Monrovia on Wednesday, 09 August Cllr. Gongloe noted that the action by the Government of Liberia clearly violates international human rights laws and as such, all political actors must condemn the government for taking such a dangerous decision.
“The LPP wants to use this occasion to condemn the decision and actions of the government to have extradited a citizen of Sierra Leone who has come to Liberia for rescue; this is a complete conspiracy between the two countries”, he says.
“Liberia should be a paradise for international human rights; we should protect people that will come for rescue instead of throwing them out.”
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]
The Presidential Candidate notes that the Government of Liberia didn’t take into consideration the gravity of the crime committed prior to extraditing the Sierra Leonean national, arguing “We think the best thing this government should have done was to investigate properly, demand facts from their counterparts before taking action.”
“We continue to inform our people that President Weah is unfit to lead this country”, Gongloe says and adds that President Weah and his government continue to set bad precedents for Liberia and these are reasons why he is contesting to become President to set the record straight and to do the right thing that will put the country on the right trajectory.
“We are under obligation as a country to protect the rights of people who run from their country from fear or any prosecution and our friends in this region have respected that.”
He recalls that during the Doe regime, many Liberians who committed crimes ran over to Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Sierra Leone and they were not sent back to Liberia.
“We now have a history in this region of sending people back to their countries. This government broke a very bad record by sending a former law enforcement officer, who came to Liberia for fear of his life”, he criticizes.
He argues further that even if there were international treaties between the two countries, the law of international treaties says no one should be sent back to his or her country where the offense is considered political, which he says is a violation.
The Government of Liberia on Tuesday, August 8, 2023, deported the Sierra Leonean former chief of police Toure after he was arrested by the Liberia National Police upon request of Sierra Leonean authorities on allegation of helping to plan subversive activities intended to unseat the Government of President Julius Maada Bio. Editing by Jonathan Browne
