On Monday, December 5, 2022, The NEW DAWN newspaper published excerpts of a press release accompanied by an MoU signed by former Solicitor General Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephas and Finish Police Investigator Thomas Elgreen.
The document’s intent, which was not captured on the Justice Ministry’s letterhead, was to allow the Finish investigator to conduct a series of investigations in Liberia during the trial of former Sierra Leonean war crimes indictee Gibril Massaquoi.
In the press statement purported to have been issued by some elements within the International Justice Group, quoting verbatim Mr. Darius Tweh, alleged that Cllr. Cephus was offered a purse of US35, 000 as inducement from Mr. Hassan Bility, to have signed such MoU outside of the Justice Ministry and provided local police officers as support team to Mr. Elgreen’s investigation.
Though Mr. Darius Tweh insists that he stands by his allegations contained in the press release, he has failed to produce a signed receipt for said amount except for the MoU.
In its publication of the story, the reporter failed to establish beyond all reasonable doubt that Tweh’s allegations of USD35,000 purse were authentic.
As a matter of standard practice, The NEW DAWN takes seriously issues of ethics, accuracy, fairness and balance in its reportage. It is based on these standards that we believe the story shouldn’t have been published in the first place. Hence, we retract the publication.
