"I think there has to be some responsibility,"--Nun on Liberia police action
“I think there has to be some responsibility taken,” says Liberian Catholic Nun, Sister Mary Laurene Browne, the head of the independent panel that investigated the November 7 violent clashes between the national police and supporters of the main opposition party, CDC.
Her panel presented its report to Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf over the weekend, with one of its recommendations calling for the sacking of the country’s police chief, Colonel Marc Amblard.
In line with that recommendation, Amblard was consequently dismissed for his handling of the clashes referred to locally as "bloody Monday," in which police open fire killing at least one civilian, with many others injured. It happened on the eve of the presidential runoff poll boycotted by Winston Tubman’s CDC.
“I think those on the committee look at it as a patriotic duty and a way of helping our country move forward,” Sister Mary Laurene told West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR) in an interview on Monday.
The dismissed police chief is being replaced by the head of the country's Immigration Bureau, Chris Massaquoi, who used to head the presidential guard, Special Security Service (SSS).
A press release from the Liberian presidency received by WADR on Sunday confirmed the sacking of the police chief based on the panel’s recommendations, but it did not say what the other recommendations are.
“The National Security Council is reviewing other recommendations contained in the report, to take into account the culpability of other actors involved in the November 7 disturbances. The recommendations are being studied to ensure compliance in keeping with the law. Further details of the Commission’s report will be released shortly,” a the ;press release from the Liberian presidency added.
In an interview with WADR’s Frank Sainworla, Sister Mary Laurene, a well respected Liberian educator, also declined to disclose the other recommendations of her panel, but said her group could not establish whether more than one person was killed “so far”.
The opposition CDC has claimed that four of its supporters were killed in the November 7 clashes, but they have not displayed the bodies of the corpes.
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