- The publisher of Liberia's 'Independent Newspaper', Sam Dean, narrowly escaped a death trap on 30 January. Several attempts to lure Dean into an ambush had failed.
Attempts to kill Dean started after a former general of the rebel National Patriotic Front of Liberia, Godfrey “Spirit” Beyan, visited him, expressing intention to "buy advertising space" on Independent Newspaper.
However, Dean's car washer told him that the former general had offered US $1,000 to a former comrade-in-arms, Beyan "Fifty" Kamara, to kill the publisher.
A few minutes later, Beyan telephoned Dean, inviting him to "come and conclude the arrangements" of buying advertising space. He said would not be present but that he was sending his assistant. It was then that the publisher sensed that Beyan was offering him to Kamara to shoot him. He immediately alerted the police.
Kamara was the first to be arrested by the police. He then helped the police to arrest Beyan with the pretext that the "mission was accomplished" and that he wanted his money.
Paris-based Reporters sans frontières (RSF) described the death trap and the contract put on Dean's head as "very disturbing" and urged Liberian authorities to get to the bottom of the matter.
“We urge the authorities, who showed goodwill towards the 'Independent Newspaper' by lifting a publishing ban last year, to conduct a thorough investigation in order to shed full light on this incident,” RSF said.
Dean had received death threats after his paper made headlines last year for publishing a story and photos of a senior Minister for Presidential Affairs, Willis Knuckles, having sex with two women. Many Liberians received the news with shock and disbelief.
The disgraced minister tendered his resignation, apologising for causing untold pain to his family and friends. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf described the resignation as regrettable, although her government could not condone improper behaviour, especially by a senior official.
Dean was briefly arrested and then disappeared from public view, with the police denying knowledge of his whereabouts. The government also withdrew his paper's licence for a year for "disregarding" the penal code, which outlaws the publication of "immoral publications."
After a legal battle, the paper's ban was lifted by the Supreme Court in March 2007.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
front page
| news
| countries
| archive
| currencies
| news alerts login
| about afrol News
| contact
| advertise
| español