Liberia

Testifying at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, Liberian journalist Hassan Bility described a harrowing 1997 reporting trip to Sierra Leone in which he documented Liberian government support for the brutal RUF rebels. His testimony was undoubtedly damaging to defendant Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in sponsoring the RUF, whose signature atrocity was hacking off the limbs of civilians, including young children.

We received good news this morning from The Hague, where the presiding judge in the war crimes trial of Charles Taylor dismissed a request to compel Liberian journalist Hassan Bility to reveal the identity of a confidential source. 

New York, February 3, 2009--A Liberian journalist who testified against ex-President Charles Taylor should not be forced to reveal a confidential source, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.