The Press Union of Liberia (PUL) is doing its utmost to secure the release of two Liberian journalists based in Kakata, Margibi County, detained on Monday, 10 February 2025, on the charge of “Contempt of Court.”
The newly assigned Judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit Court, Golda A. Bona Elliot, had ordered Elvis Gono of the Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS) and Philip Gbana of Classic FM detained for failing to produce the living body of a woman on whose behalf they had stood as guarantors.
The woman in question was arrested and taken to Court in September 2024 for allegedly damaging the windshield of a vehicle, in a case linked to the murder of one other person.
The PUL has chosen not to disclose the names of the suspect and victim relating to the case in question.
That case was pending assignment for the November Term of Court. Meanwhile, the suspect was pregnant and ill.
Both Gono and Gbana – who also serves as Public Relations Officer at the Kakata City Corporation – stood as guarantors, securing her release and agreeing to return the woman upon the Court’s request.
According to Margibi County Attorney Deddeh Wilson, who spoke with the PUL, the journalists reportedly failed to fulfill their pledge, despite having been contacted by the Court. Gono and Gbana have both denied ever receiving a Court summons to appear with the suspect.
On Wednesday, 12 February 2025, the woman in question, now a breastfeeding mother, was produced in Court by her family.
She was subsequently remanded at the Kakata Central Prison, where journalists Gono and Gbana are also detained. The woman’s nursing infant is being taken care of by her maternal grandmother.
The PUL is working to file the necessary legal paperwork to secure the journalists’ release.
The Union has expressed its thanks and appreciation to Judge Golda A. Bona Elliot and her staff at the 13th Judicial Circuit Court and the Assistant Minister for Corrections and Rehabilitation at the Ministry of Justice, Atty. Gabriel Ndupellar, for the courtesy accorded the PUL in the day-long efforts to free its members.
The PUL will provide further updates as the story develops.
