Liberian police on August 11, 2014, assaulted Henry Karmo, a journalist with the independent FrontPageAfrica newspaper, while he was photographing protesters in the capital, Monrovia, demonstrating against the imposition of a 90-day state of emergency by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, according to news reports. The directive was aimed at controlling the spread of the deadly ebola virus, the reports said.
Police arrested Karmo along with protesters and beat him, despite him identifying himself as a journalist, FrontPageAfrica reported. His equipment was seized and his camera lens damaged as well. He said he was made to undress and put behind bars at a police station, where he was held for four hours. He was released only after being forced to delete his photos, the paper reported.
Police said Karmo had been “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” according to news reports.