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Four journalists, including a South African cameraman Gugu Radebe, were arrested in Liberia at the weekend on suspicion of espionage and have been accused by that country’s justice minister of “clandestine activity to injure the image and character of the president of Liberia”.
The South African Press Association (SAPA) reported that it is expected that the four will appear in court on Tuesday on charges of espionage.
Matt Baker, spokesperson for the British television company Channel 4, which commissioned the documentary the four were filming, said that the team had filmed in Morocco and Mali before moving on to Liberia. They were also expected to travel to Angola. The four, said SAPA, were granted visas and had permission from the Liberian ministry of information to film in the country. “Channel 4 is confident that the tapes confiscated will show that the journalists were only engaged in legitimate journalistic activities,” Baker added.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions