Human rights activist detained by security forces

The director of a child rights advocacy group in Monrovia was detained on Wednesday by the security forces and charged with sedition, the National Coordinator of the National Human Rights Centre (NHRC) of Liberia told IRIN on Thursday. The director of FOCUS, James Torh, was charged following seditious remarks he allegedly made at a secondary school in Monrovia earlier this month, NCRC coordinator Jappah Nah said. According to Nah, who visited him in police custody, Torh denied making any seditious statements. The NHRC, an umbrella group of eight human rights organisations including FOCUS, is "watching the process carefully," Nah said. He added that he hoped Torh would be released in the next couple of days and the due processes of the law would be fulfilled.