The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned arson threats against the Liberian Daily Observer that were made on 2 April.

The publisher and the marketing manager of the Monrovia-based Daily Observer each recently received threatening phone calls from an unknown caller who said that Publisher and Managing Director Kenneth Y. Best’s house would be burnt down, Best told IPI by phone from Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, today.

The calls came one day after the newspaper ran a story criticizing the way in which a foreign-owned mining company had recently won a concession in the West African country, Best said. On the day the story ran, representatives alleging that they were from the company in question called the Observer to request that the story be kept from the newspaper’s website, Best told IPI.

Bai Best, who is marketing manager at the Observer and also Kenneth Best’s son, received the first threatening phone call at around 10A.M. on the morning of Saturday 2 April. The caller remained silent, the Daily Observer reported.  The caller, a woman, then rang the elder Best and said, “We are coming to your house tonight to burn it down,” Kenneth Best said. Best and his son believe it was the same caller, because the phone numbers matched.

A probe into the threats is now underway, according to Best, who has been in contact with the investigators from the Ministry of National Security.

“We’re not afraid. We’re not afraid of anybody. We haven’t been afraid over the years, and we have no intention of throwing in the towel now,” said Best, who is also an IPI World Press Freedom Hero. “There has been arson and imprisonment, and we’ve survived by the grace of God, and we remain committed to ethics and responsibility. We’re not afraid.”

An arson threat against Kenneth Best’s home is a serious matter, because the offices of his newspaper, the Daily Observer, have been burned before. The building suffered arson attacks first in 1986 and then in 1990, a fire that destroyed the photo division and library, the publication reported on its website.

“Any threat of arson against Kenneth Best or the Daily Observer must be taken very seriously by Liberian officials, and we urge the authorities to continue investigating until those behind this phone call have been found and prosecuted,” said IPI Director Alison Bethel McKenzie.