04/08/2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: August 3, 2026
Action Committee for Press Freedom and Due Process / Civil Society Coalition
AN OUTRAGE AGAINST THE RULE OF LAW: CALL FOR PRESIDENT JOSEPH NYUMA BOAKAI TO IMMEDIATELY DISMISS AND PROSECUTE JOSEPH BOYE COOPER FOR UNLAWFUL ARREST AND ASSAULT OF JOURNALIST AMB. Amb Ishmael J Delaney.
MONROVIA, LIBERIA
We are issuing an urgent appeal to His Excellency President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, the Press Union of Liberia, international human rights organisations, and the diplomatic community regarding an alarming abuse of public office and the illegal exercise of law-enforcement powers.
On Thursday, July 30, 2026, Joseph Boye Cooper, the Interim Deputy Director General for Administration at the Bureau of State Enterprises (BSE), executed a lawless act of vigilante justice. In an abuse of state power, Mr Cooper instructed non-law enforcement employees of the Bureau of State Enterprises to assault and unlawfully arrest Amb. Ishmael Delaney, a popular talk show host at Hot FM 107.9.
The pretext for this assault was Mr Cooper’s personal grievance regarding an alleged defamation lawsuit. Rather than allowing the judicial process to take its course through competent law enforcement and the courts, Mr Cooper converted civil administrative staff into a private militia to harass, beat, and arrest a peaceful citizen and radio personality. This act is a direct assault on press freedom, civil liberties, and the constitutional order of the Republic of Liberia.
ETIQUETTE OF LAWLESSNESS: SPECIFIC LEGAL VIOLATIONS UNDER LIBERIAN LAW
Joseph Boye Cooper and his accomplices stand in direct violation of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia and the statutory laws of the Republic of Liberia:
1986 Constitution of Liberia
Article 20(a): Guarantees that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, security, or property except by the due process of law. Ordering private employees to arrest a citizen without a judicial warrant or statutory authorisation is a direct violation of due process.
Article 21(f): Protects citizens against illegal arrest and arbitrary detention by unauthorised individuals.
Unlawful Arrest by Non-Law Enforcement Personnel (Liberian Criminal Procedure Law, Title 2, Chapter 10)
Under Liberian law, private individuals or non-law-enforcement civil servants may only arrest under strictly limited "Citizen's Arrest" provisions, specifically when a felony is being committed in their presence or when pursuing a fugitive from a serious crime.
Amb. Ishmael Delaney is not a fugitive, nor was he committing a felony. A private defamation complaint never confers arrest powers upon a complainant or administrative agency employees.
Liberian Penal Law, Title 26, Chapter 12, Section 12.70)
A public official commits a crime when, acting under the colour of office, he knowingly subjects another person to unlawful arrest, detention, or bodily harm. Mr Cooper weaponised his official title as Interim Deputy Director General to compel subordinates to engage in criminal conduct.
Liberian Penal Law, Title 26, Chapter 14, Section 14.21
Ordering subordinates to physically harm and forcibly grab a journalist constitutes criminal assault and battery.
OUR DEMANDS TO HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT JOSEPH NYUMA BOAKAI
President Boakai’s administration was built on the promise of restoring the rule of law, protecting press freedom, and ending the culture of impunity among public officials. We respectfully call upon the President to take immediate action against Joseph Boye Cooper by dismissing him from his post as Interim Deputy Director General of Administration at the Bureau of State Enterprises pending full investigation.
Direct the Ministry of Justice and the Liberia National Police to immediately arrest, charge, and prosecute Joseph Boye Cooper and all participating BSE employees for assault, official oppression, and unlawful restraint.
We call on the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Amnesty International, the United States Embassy in Monrovia, the ECOWAS Commission, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to observe this matter closely.
If a senior public administrator can order non-law enforcement staff to assault and arrest a news commentator over a personal dispute, no citizen or journalist in Liberia is safe. Lawlessness must not be normalised under the banner of state authority.
Concerned Citizens for Justice, Press Freedom, and the Rule of Law
Monrovia, Republic of Liberia
