IPNEWS: A scholar of J.J. Roberts Elementary & Junior High School and the College of West Africa, a mother of the freedom fighters, a victim of domestic and international conspiracy, and ex-wife of imprisoned former Liberian President Charles Ghankay Taylor, Dr. Agnes Reeves – Taylor, has filed a lawsuit demanding over US$1m in damages for libel against the erstwhile Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) former Commissioner Madam Massa A. Washington who allegedly published fake information to expose the complainant to public hatred.
Dr. Reeves – Taylor, now working as Executive Director, Liberia Institute of Policy Studies and Research, University of Liberia (UL), says in the complaint before the Civil Law Court that Madam Washington’s actual motive and sinister intent [is] to lower her person in the high esteem of her colleagues.
She said the publications are found wanting, contrary to law, and therefore demands damages from defendant Washington in the sum of US$1,500,000.00 for libelous statements uttered by the accused.
Dr. Taylor laments that the publications have substantially injured her hard-earned reputation after the alleged fake information was broadcasted and circulated on the internet and in print media by some local dailies on 13 October 2021.
The Civil Law Court has ordered defendant Washington to appear before it on 20 December 2021.
She complains that she has suffered serious mental anguish and humiliation to the effect that the public looks upon her as one who does not portray or possess the kind of moral rectitude to be an international public servant.
The mother of Liberia’s revolution freedom fighters said the publication has also made the public look upon her as one who does not have the moral to transact business with the public for which damages must lie.
In addition to the 13 October publication, Dr. Reeves – Taylor said the defendant also insinuated and was partly quoted as saying that following her return to Liberia, she (Reeves – Taylor) called a press conference on 27 July 2020, and proudly referred to herself as “Mother” of the NPFL Revolution [National Patriotic Front of Liberia].
Dr. Reeves added that Madam Washington asserted that she (complainant) promptly and sternly called out Hassan Bility and that she had her older sister Laurice Reeves, a former Liberian broadcast journalist (prewar) and former NPFL Press Secretary to the complainant when Dr. Reeves – Taylor was “First Lady of Greater Liberia during the war.
The complainant noted that Madam Washington indicated that she was being assisted by her sister Laurice to “fight back”.
Furthermore, she said Madam Washington cited other media outlets and Facebook as her (Reeves – Taylor’s) platform for getting their message out.
“Laurice is at the head of the media campaign aimed at discrediting Hassan Bility. The siblings, who are known to be very close, are united in their goal to get back at Hassan Bility,” Dr. Reeves – Taylor’s complaint quotes Madam Washington as saying.
She said she has been accused by Madam Washington of allegedly orchestrating a smear campaign against Bility aimed at making him pay for being part of a process that saw her lose her opulent lifestyle in the United Kingdom and be incarcerated in a British prison for more than two years. But Dr. Reeves – Taylor contends that Madam Washington’s allegations are devoid of any iota of truth, challenging her to produce a simple truth to support her allegations against the complainant.
Madam Reeves complains further noted that Madam Washington’s scandalous publications which insinuated that “Attacks Against GJRP’s Hassan Bility are Coordinated, Purposeful and should be condemned,” which was published both on electronic and print media was intended to damage her good reputation and adversely impact her credibility in the performance of her interactions and dealings with others in Liberia and abroad. (Courtesy of Newdawn newspaper).
