Liberia Press Union Slams Closure of Radio Station

The Press Union of Liberia has criticized the shutdown of Spoon FM as a direct infringement on freedom of expression. A court in Monrovia on Friday ordered the station closed. The Spoon Network was sued last year by Wilmont Smith, then deputy director general for information coordination at the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo-Information Services. When President George Weah fired Smith, he sued the station for defamation for referring to him as a criminal. Information minister Ledgerhood Rennie says the government is not a part of the lawsuit that resulted in Spoon FM’s closure. Akoi Baysah, Jr, secretary general of the Press Union of Liberia, tells VOA’s James Butty, suing media institutions silences freedom of speech and Liberia’s democratic process.