Liberians have the right to stage protest but the once aimed at obstructing the smooth functioning of the society to force the authority to submit will not be tolerated, the new Justice Minister Cllr. F. Musa Dean has said.
Dean, who is also the Attorney General of Liberia, called on citizens to work closely with officers of the Liberia National Police in the discharge of their statutory responsibility.
The top Liberian lawyer now Minister of Justice made the statements when he formally took over the gavel of authority from the Human Resource Director at the Justice Ministry in Monrovia early this week.
The new Justice Minister was apparently referring to Article 17 of the Liberian constitution guarantees freedom of assembly but which has a caveat.
“All persons, at all times, in an orderly and peaceable manner, shall have the right to assemble and consult upon the common good, to instruct their representatives, to petition the Government or other functionaries for the redress of grievances and to associate fully with others or refuse to associate in political parties, trade unions and other organizations,” says Article 17 of Liberia’s 1985 Constitution.
Minister Dean said he will try to equip the LNP and train more people for the police force especially in the wake of UNMIL drawdown.
The new Justice Minister added that his administration will put the police in state of readiness for an event and Liberians should their services as the way the law prescribed.
He promised that his doors will be opened and called on Justice Ministry workers as well as the heads of the various security forces to cooperate, in order not to fail the Liberian people.
The Attorney General then made it unequivocally clear that government will not infringe on the rights of the people but they must ensure they within the scope of the laws of the land.
Dean, a former lawyer of the National Elections Commission, was appointed to the post after the first nominee, Cllr. Charles Gibson was withdrawn after integrity concerns were raised about him (Gibson). Report by Augustine Octavius