Liberian police seal newspaper office, try to detain publisher for critical coverage

MONROVIA, Liberia – Dozens of riot police have sealed the offices of a newspaper critical of the Liberian government and officers attempted to detain its publisher. Police spokesman Sam Collins says the paper's criticisms could "plunge the country into confusion" when the government is struggling to contain an Ebola outbreak.

Philibert Brown's National Chronicle has often accused President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's government of corruption and on Wednesday it called for the government to step down.

Brown has been ordered to report for questioning Friday.

Sirleaf's government has come under stiff criticism for its record on press freedoms. Sirleaf has signed the Declaration of Table Mountain, which calls for the Africa-wide repeal of defamation and "insult" laws, but multiple libel convictions have been handed down since she came to power in 2006.