MONROVIA, Liberia – The Press Union of Liberia (PUL) has escalated its response to allegations by Inspector General of Police Gregory Coleman linking the Liberian media to a drug cartel, authorizing its leadership to engage legal counsel after the Government failed to produce evidence supporting the claim.
At a mass membership meeting held Monday at the PUL headquarters in Monrovia, journalists and media practitioners overwhelmingly voted to mandate the Union’s leadership to seek legal remedies within one week, describing the allegation as damaging to the integrity and safety of journalists across the country.
The controversy stems from a July 30 statement by Police Inspector General Gregory Coleman, who, speaking on behalf of the Government’s Joint Security Investigative Taskforce, claimed the Taskforce had “verified and established” that a drug cartel had injected money into sections of the media to influence public opinion and sway ongoing investigations into the seizure of more than half a billion U.S. dollars worth of cocaine. According to the PUL, no evidence has since been presented to substantiate the accusation.
The Union warned that publicly branding journalists as having links to a drug cartel without supporting evidence undermines media credibility, erodes public trust, and places journalists at risk.
During the meeting, journalist Winston Blyden moved that the PUL immediately retain lawyers to pursue appropriate legal remedies against the allegation, a motion that received overwhelming support from the membership.
PUL President Julius Kanubah said the Union’s actions should not be viewed as a confrontation with the Government but as a defense of press freedom and journalistic integrity. He maintained that if authorities possess evidence of any media institutions collaborating with drug traffickers, such information should be made public to support the fight against illicit drugs rather than casting broad accusations against the media.
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