MONROVIA – At a moment when Liberia is still navigating the fragile balance between public order and constitutional freedoms, the civil society organization STAND has accused state authorities of using the justice system to criminalize dissent. The group’s latest confrontation with the Liberia National Police follows its role in organizing the December 2025 peaceful protest, an event that highlighted public frustration over accountability and security sector conduct. By framing recent court charges as fabricated and retaliatory, STAND is widening the national debate beyond a single protest, raising broader questions about selective justice, policing standards, and the government’s tolerance for civic activism. The unfolding case now tests the resilience of Liberia’s democratic space and the credibility of its rule-of-law institutions. The Analyst reports.
The civil society organization STAND, which organized the December 2025 protest against governance failures, has raised alarm over what it describes as police harassment and a miscarriage of justice, following criminal charges filed against its leaders at the Monrovia City Magisterial Court.
In a statement issued from the City Court, STAND disclosed that the Liberia National Police has formally charged the group after initially summoning its leaders merely as “persons of interest.”
According to STAND, its members complied with all police invitations after the protest, presenting themselves whenever called, until authorities abruptly “ambushed” them with criminal charges and arraigned them before the court
The charge sheet, as outlined by the group, includes obstruction of highway, failure to disperse, criminal facilitation, rioting, and criminal conspiracy.
STAND dismissed the accusations as “laughable” and “trumped-up,” insisting that the December demonstration was peaceful and conducted within the bounds of constitutional rights to assembly and expression.
In strongly worded language, the organization argued that the charges were not only baseless but deliberately manufactured.
STAND linked the timing of the prosecution to what it called a troubling pattern of selective justice, pointing to the recent release of an alleged rapist and the continued freedom of police officers implicated in the killing of Matthew Mulbah. The group further alleged that numerous serious crimes involving state-affiliated actors have gone uninvestigated, while protest organizers face swift legal action.
“This is not law enforcement,” the statement declared, describing the charges as a crude attempt to silence dissent, criminalize resistance, and intimidate citizens who challenge authority. STAND warned that such actions risk eroding public trust in the justice system and shrinking the already fragile civic space in Liberia.
Despite the court proceedings, the organization struck a defiant tone, saying the prosecution would not weaken its resolve. Instead, STAND maintained that the experience would strengthen its commitment to what it termed “moral defiance” against injustice and abuse of power. “If this state-sanctioned persecution achieves anything,” the group said, “it will only embolden our resolve.”
The statement, signed by activist Mulbah K. Morlu “from the Prisoner’s Bench” at the Monrovia City Court, underscored STAND’s intention to continue its advocacy regardless of legal pressure.
The group vowed to persist in resistance until its “collective national revolutionary objectives” are achieved, framing its struggle as part of a broader fight for accountability, justice, and democratic reform.
The case is already drawing attention from civil society observers, who say it highlights persistent tensions between security agencies and activists in Liberia.
Analysts note that while authorities have a responsibility to maintain public order, prosecutions arising from peaceful protests are often viewed as a barometer of democratic tolerance.
As the matter proceeds before the City Court, STAND is urging Liberians to closely monitor the case and to see it as larger than the fate of a single organization.
“This is about civil liberty,” the group insists, warning that how the justice system handles the case will send a powerful signal about whether dissent is protected or punished in today’s Liberia.