Monrovia – The Solidarity and Belief for a New Day (STAND), one among Liberia’s most distinguished civil society actions, has condemned statements made by Inspector Basic of Police Gregory Coleman, calling them “harmful, dishonest, and politically motivated.”
By Selma Lomax [email protected]
The condemnation comes amid rising nationwide consideration forward of STAND’s July 17 “Sufficient is Sufficient” protest, which organizers say will problem systemic corruption, impunity, and declining governance beneath the Joseph Boakai administration.
Throughout a press briefing, Inspector Basic Coleman warned that protest planners had not knowledgeable the Ministry of Justice or legislation enforcement of their intentions, suggesting a scarcity of coordination might threaten public security. He additionally cautioned that protest organizers wanted to acquire a allow.
“As we draw nearer to the July 17 protest date, as we speak makes it ten days from that date,” Coleman stated. “Now we have requested that planners interact with the Ministry of Justice to get a allow and inform legislation enforcement as to the route they intend to take, in order that we are able to present the ample safety. Updated, we haven’t seen any such engagement. Nonetheless, we wish to reaffirm our dedication to the democratic course of that we are going to present the ample safety essential and we are going to do no matter we are able to to ease the burden of those that won’t be part of the protest.”
STAND instantly pushed again, denouncing Coleman’s remarks as false and a part of an orchestrated marketing campaign to suppress the protest. The group insists that no allow is required beneath Liberian legislation, and that notification — not authorization — is the constitutional normal for public protest.
“Inspector Basic Coleman’s assertion that protest organizers didn’t notify the Ministry of Justice is a deliberate lie,” stated Mulbah Ok. Morlu, Jr., Nationwide Chairperson of STAND and lead organizer of the July 17 protest.
“On July 4, 2025, STAND formally submitted written discover to the Ministry of Justice in full compliance with Article 17 of the Liberian Structure. That communication was additionally distributed to nationwide media shops to make sure transparency. Coleman’s false declare exposes a sample of dishonesty and unhealthy religion and raises severe considerations about his health to steer the Liberia Nationwide Police. Moderately than serving the Liberian folks, he’s now functioning as a political enforcer, weaponizing state energy to undermine a constitutionally protected civic motion.”
STAND criticized what it described as veiled threats from the police chief, together with claims that protesters could also be planning to hold weapons or interact in criminality. Coleman’s warnings, the group stated, had been designed to unfold concern and justify potential crackdowns.
“These inflammatory statements, disguised as safety considerations, are nothing lower than an try to criminalize peaceable dissent, stoke concern, and justify potential state-sponsored violence towards law-abiding residents,” stated Morlu. “STAND categorically rejects these fabrications and warns that any effort to disrupt, delegitimize, or provoke violence towards this peaceable protest might be met with agency, lawful, and unyielding resistance by the Liberian folks.”
In line with STAND, there are rising considerations of a coordinated marketing campaign involving rogue parts of the safety sector. The motion alleges that it has obtained credible experiences of plans to plant medicine, rent brokers provocateurs, and even deploy people disguised as protesters to trigger disruption. The group claims such acts are geared toward creating chaos and manufacturing a pretext for state violence.
“These aren’t mere rumors,” stated Morlu. “These are credible threats to civil liberties and democratic order in Liberia.”
The group additionally warned the Liberia Nationwide Police and any political operatives towards any makes an attempt to sabotage or infiltrate the protest. STAND has vowed that any particular person caught participating in unlawful acts towards peaceable demonstrators, no matter rank, could also be topic to lawful residents’ arrest.
“STAND points a transparent and unequivocal warning that if any authorities official, safety operative, or political agent makes an attempt to infiltrate the protest, plant proof, or stage acts of sabotage, STAND and its nationwide residents’ community reserve the constitutional proper to execute a lawful citizen’s arrest,” the assertion famous.
“This is applicable to any particular person —no matter rank — who commits a criminal offense towards peaceable protesters. Police Director Gregory Coleman won’t be exempt if he crosses that line.”
The motion reaffirmed that the July 17 protest will go forward as deliberate. “This protest shouldn’t be a request—it’s a righteous rebellion towards corruption, impunity, and the systematic collapse of constitutional governance beneath President Joseph Boakai,” stated Morlu. “We’re not asking permission to be free. We’re exercising our proper to withstand.”
In anticipation of requires dialogue or negotiation, STAND made its place clear that it’ll not be swayed by provides that compromise its core ideas or diminish the protest’s targets.
“To these entertaining the phantasm of compromised negotiations or backdoor offers, allow us to be clear that we are going to by no means commerce away our constitutional rights, nor will we kneel earlier than repression,” Morlu declared. “We won’t pause. We won’t retreat. And we won’t be silenced—not whereas this regime continues to violate the legislation and abuse the folks it swore to serve.”
Because the protest date attracts close to, organizers say the demonstration is shaping as much as be one of many largest post-war civic actions within the nation’s current historical past. “We protest as a result of we should—to defend our democracy, restore our dignity, and safe the way forward for a free and sovereign Liberia,” STAND stated in closing. “Sufficient is sufficient.”
