RSF protests media clamp-down

The international media watchdog, Reporters sans Frontieres, protested on Wednesday against the arrest of several journalists and the closure of the private Analyst newspaper by the government for articles that were "not out for peace". According to RSF, at least four journalists have been detained at the police station in the capital Monrovia, including Stanley Sankor and James Lloyd of the Analyst Newspaper. The police also closed the offices of the paper, RSF said on Wednesday. RSF reported police chief Paul Mulbah as saying that several articles published by the paper "poisoned the minds of the people". Since a state of emergency was declared in Liberia on Friday, the paper has produced articles with titles such as "Liberians drowning in horrors", "What rights and freedoms can the President suspend?". In demanding the journalists' immediate release and the re-opening of the offices, RSF Secretary-General Robert Menard said the Liberian authorities should not use the state of emergency as a "pretext to censor and muzzle the independent press".