The opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) has issued a stern warning to the Liberian government, threatening unspecified “national consequences” if state security forces continue what the party describes as intimidation and harassment of peaceful protesters.
In a strongly worded statement, the CDC condemned the events of December 17, 2025, characterizing the police response to the STAND-organized protest in Monrovia as “state terror” rather than legitimate crowd control.
The party accused the government of orchestrating a deliberate assault on citizens’ constitutional rights to assemble, protest, and express dissent—rights protected under both the Liberian Constitution and international human rights law.
The CDC cited what it called credible reports suggesting that the violence was triggered not by protesters but by stone‑throwing individuals operating within the secured perimeter of the Capitol Building.
According to the party, these individuals were allegedly linked to staffers in the Office of Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung. The CDC argued that this “reckless provocation” was then used as a pretext for a violent police crackdown on unarmed civilians.
The party described the incident as part of a broader pattern in which “chaos is manufactured to justify repression.”
The CDC issued a pointed warning to President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and Inspector General of Police Gregory Coleman, accusing the administration of weaponizing state security forces against citizens. The party said both leaders would be held “personally and institutionally accountable” should Liberia “be dragged back into an abyss of repression, fear, and state violence.”
“History has taught this nation painful lessons,” the statement read. “When a government abandons restraint and treats peaceful protest as an enemy, the nation does not move forward—it disintegrates.”
The CDC demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all individuals arrested during the December 17 protest.
Reaffirming its stance, the CDC insisted it would not be silenced or deterred from exercising its constitutional rights. The party also called on the international community to urgently monitor what it described as a “dangerous trajectory” in Liberia’s governance and human rights environment. “Liberia belongs to all its citizens,” the statement concluded, “not to batons, bullets, or fear.”
