6 May 2009

Journalist assaulted by senator


(CEMESP/IFEX) - On 5 May 2009, reporter Solomon Ware of Truth FM Radio station in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, was physically assaulted by the
president pro tempore of the Liberian Senate, Cletus Wotorson, as the
reporter tried to ask him a few questions concerning the abrupt adjournment
of the Liberian Senate.

Ware, the station's legislative reporter, was physically hit in the chest
by Wotorson, to the disbelief of other journalists and legislative staffers
who were on the scene. A journalist who was present during the incident
told CEMESP that the incident occurred when the Senate's plenary failed to
conduct its regular Tuesday session after Grand Bassa County Senator
Gbezohngar Findley requested the Senate adjourn because there was nothing
on its agenda for discussion.

Following the abrupt adjournment of the Senate, the senators and others
walked out of the chambers, and in keeping with his reportorial duty, Ware
walked up to Wotorson to ask why the Senate had to prematurely adjourn.

According to a CEMESP source, Wotorson at first responded to the questions
posed to him by Ware, but later got infuriated at the continued line of
questioning.

As the reporter persisted in trying to get the answers he
wanted from the president pro tempore, Wotorson responded by angrily
telling Ware not to do to him "what he can't do to President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf". In an apparent fit of anger, Wotorson bent his elbow backward
into the chest of the reporter, who was close to his side, causing him to
bow in pain.

Wotorson later warned Ware: "If you don't stop troubling me with your
questions, I will drag you out of this building to serve as a deterrent to
other journalists who may want to follow your path of journalism."

The reporter nearly collapsed from the hit in the chest by Wotorson. He was
rescued by his colleagues who later took him to another location to cool
off. Ware told CEMESP that he is currently experiencing severe pains in his
chest as a result of the physical assault on him by Wotorson.

Wotorson took over as president pro tempore of the Liberian Senate barely
two months ago.

CEMESP Executive Director Malcolm Joseph has categorically condemned the
assault on Ware. Joseph described the action of the president pro tempore,
which comes barely two days after the celebration of World Press Freedom
Day, as an attack on press freedom in Liberia. The CEMESP director is
calling on the plenary of the Senate to take the necessary actions to avoid
a reoccurrence of such an incident.