Liberia's vainglorious President, Gen. Samuel K. Doe, may not care a whit about American protests over his five-year record of repression. But he plainly cares about the Reagan Administration's suspension of $25 million in economic aid, which those protests triggered.
To placate Washington, he has now ordered the release of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and 16 jailed students, evidence that financial pressure works.
Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf had returned recently to Liberia to challenge General Doe in a presidential vote next month. She was clapped in jail, charged with sedition and drew a 10-year sentence from a military tribunal. Her case attracted attention because she is a Harvard-trained economist and vice president of Citibank, unusual credentials for a seditionist.
But her plight also drew attention to General Doe's erratic despotism. Having promised elections, he eliminated rival parties, altered his birthday so that he will be 35, the required age, and jailed opposition journalists. Still in custody are Momolu Sirleaf, a relative of Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf, and Klon Hinneh, both on the staff of Footprints Today, Liberia's only remaining independent daily.
Until all such prisoners are freed, and newspapers are unmuzzled, why free that suspended aid money?
Source: New York Times
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