By Our Staff Writer
Just hours after the Liberian Senate concurred with the House of Representatives to pass the Bill decriminalizing speech offenses on Thursday, the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) has welcomed the move.
And the Bill will be sent to President George Manneh Weah for his approval and subsequent printing into hand bill.
The Senate concurred with the House in their Thursday plenary, after the lower House mid last year repealed Anti-free Speech Legislations in Liberia earlier resubmitted by President George Manneh Weah with the Bill be named after the late PUL President Kamara Abdullai Kamara.
Many have said this action by the Lawmakers would boost the Journalism profession and make the environment for free speech and press freedom more condusive.
In interview with the local media, PUL President Charles Coffey on Thursday express delight over the passage of the Bill by the Senate, which he said will no longer make speech offense a criminal matter with the jailing of Journalists and other but rather a civil issue. But he warned Journalists not to abuse this new dispensation by being unethical.
For his part, former PUL President and now the President of the West Africa Journalists Association (WAJA), Mr. Peter Quaqua has also described the Senate’s concurrence with the House as a “Victory for Freedom of Expression campaigners in Liberia.”
The new Bill amends the Liberian Codes Revised, Penal Law of 1978 of Liberia, Chapter 11 by repealing three sections to be known as “The Kamara Abdullah Kamara Act of Press Freedom.”
President Weah said he was resubmitting the Bill to the Legislature because Liberia is a signatory to the Table Mountain Declaration, which demands that African countries abolish inflammatory and other related media laws such as the Freedom of Information Act that saw the setting up of the Independent Information Commission (IIC). In his letter that accompanied the resubmitted Bill, President Weah said:
“However, there appear to be challenges in the full implementation of these Acts. Section 11.11, Criminal Libel; against the President; Section 11.12, Sedition and 11.14, Criminal Malevolence of the Penal Laws of Liberia, which tend to impede freedom of speech and expression and acts committed thereof are considered to be criminal.”
The document further said: “Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to repeal these sections of the penal laws that have the tendency of making Liberia non-compliant. In view of the above and in government’s commitment to uphold the Constitution, the declaration of Table Mountain and other international treaties related to the press and press-related activities, we request that you pass into law this legislation which will repeal these sections of our penal law that has the tendency to impede freedom of speech and expression that we have vowed to protect. ..,”
According to the Senate’s Public Information chief, Mr. Jarlawoh Tonpo, the body’s concurrence vote was triggered by a comprehensive report from the Body’s Committee on Information, Broadcasting, Culture and tourism.
The Act as submitted by President George M. Weah is intended to amend the “Liberian codes revised, penal law of 1978 of the Republic of Liberia, Chapter 11, by repealing sections 11. 11, 11.12 and 11.14, to be known as the Kamara Abdullah Kamara act of Press Freedom.”
Prior to the passage of the Bill into law, the committee conducted public hearings to ascertain the importance attached to the Bill. The hearing was attended by the Press Union of Liberia, West African Journalist Association, InterNews, and Center for Media Studies and Peace Building.
The Panelists presentation convinced members of the Committee on Information Broadcasting, Culture and Tourism for the passage of the Bill.
During the hearing, the President of the Press Union of the Liberia Mr. Charles B. Cuffey, Jr and the other Panelists argued strongly that the Press Freedom has been the “Heart” of the media struggle in Liberia.
The Panelists said anti media laws are used against the Liberian media, naming criminal libel against the President, Sedition and criminal malevolence as examples.
PUL President and his Colleagues argued that those laws prohibit the media from providing balanced and timely stories. Noting further that the existing law limits the media from adequately reaching out to the general public and repealing those provisions will allow citizens to cultivate a sense of ownership and can challenge the laws they believed in.
Based on the convincing arguments from the PUL and the other media actors as stated by in the Committees’ report, the Senate voted to concur with the Lower House following a motion proffered by the Chair on Information, Broacast Culture and Tourism, Grand Bassa County Senator Jonathan Kaipay.
The Bill will be sent to the President for his approval, thereafter, it becomes a law.
Back in June 2018 on the verge of House passage of the free speech decriminalization Bill, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Sinoe County Representative Jay Nagbe Sloh said:
“What we have not been able to establish is to put a law of this nature or any law for that matter in the name of an individual. We have established that indeed the late brother Kamara have worked too hard for the passage of this law but there are many other ways that the Press Union of Liberia, the Government of Liberia can work together to honor him…..”
“….If you can name that headquarters, the first in the history of the Press Union of Liberia in his honor instead of this law. So we are recommending, the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Information, Cultural and Broadcasting that we pass the law as is from the President but we should exclude the name of Mr. Kamara.”