LIBERIA: GOL AND UNMIL RESPOND QUICKLY TO LAC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MONROVIA 001359 SIPDIS SIPDIS AF/W PDAVIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2017 TAGS: PGOV ASEC AMGT EAGR PTER LI SUBJECT: LIBERIA: GOL AND UNMIL RESPOND QUICKLY TO LAC MURDER REF: MONROVIA 1352 Classified By: AMBASSADOR DONALD E. BOOTH FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. The Executive Mansion has called the murder of Liberian Agriculture Company (LAC) General Manager Michael Bruno "unacceptable" and vowed to find and prosecute the perpetrators as soon as possible in order to protect Liberia's investment climate. The Mansion also expressed concern that the murder may have political implications and vowed to bring any politicians involved to justice. The Liberty Party told Embassy PolOff its top officials are being monitored by the Government of LIBERIA (GOL) and may be prohibited from leaving the country. The Liberian National Police (LNP) sent its Director along with a team of its best investigators to Grand Bassa County and have detained twenty persons of interest. No official arrests have been made. The United Nations Mission in LIBERIA (UNMIL) has secured the LAC rubber plantation and is providing support to the LNP. END SUMMARY. GOL RESPONSE TO MURDER OF MICHAEL BRUNO ¶2. (C) President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf publicly expressed sympathy for the loss of Michael Bruno and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice as soon as possible. She called the act "unacceptable" and denounced those "wishing to create unnecessary tension and terror in the country, with the objective to undermine efforts of the government to secure a peaceful and stable environment for all of its people and foreign residents." Vice President Joseph Boakai said that the GOL would work to increase security while helping LAC to bring development and jobs to the area as planned. Executive Mansion Press Secretary Cyrus Badio, however, was more pointed. He said that Bruno's death had political implications and was not an isolated event. Minister of Justice Philip Banks vowed to act swiftly on the case and went personally to witness the autopsy of Michael Bruno. LNP SENDS DIRECTOR AND TOP INVESTIGATORS, UNMIL SECURES LAC PLANTATION ¶3. (U) LNP sent its Director and a top team from the Criminal Investigations Unit to Grand Bassa County to investigate. UNMIL has deployed extra troops to the area and secured the surrounding area of the LAC rubber plantation. United Nations Police (UNPOL) officers are assisting the LNP with all parts of the investigation. ADDITIONAL FACTS ABOUT THE LAC MURDER CASE ¶4. (C) LNP Chief of Criminal Investigations Steven Zargo clarified a few facts for us on the case November 20. The victim was a 36-year-old Belgian named Michael Bruno (press reports have called him Bruneo Michel, Bruno Michiel, and other incorrect variations),General Manager of the Liberian Agriculture Company (LAC). Bruno was driving in Grand Bassa County November 17 with three African LAC employees (Liberian and Ghanaian) on the land LAC obtained through its November 15 plantation expansion agreement with the GOL. Between 0800 and 0830 the car was ambushed by villagers and Bruno was shot dead. The three African employees fled the scene immediately. They were not harmed. Zargo could not confirm whether LNP knew of their whereabouts or whether or not they were involved in the crime. Rumors that Bruno's body was mutilated are not true. Zargo was present at the post-mortem investigation and said that Bruno suffered a gun shot wound to the head. TWENTY "PERSONS OF INTEREST" DETAINED, NO ARRESTS ¶5. (C) Though the press reported that twenty people were arrested as suspects for the murder, Zargo clarified that no official arrests have been made. He confirmed that "twenty persons of interest" from surrounding villages have been detained in a non-prison compound. Zargo said that most of the detainees were "known troublemakers from the area" and that several were cooperating with information. He said that as Liberian law requires that all arrested persons be charged or released in 48 hours, the LNP would wait to make any official arrest until they have enough evidence to file any charges. ¶6. (C) Zargo emphasized that the investigation was still in its early stages but vowed that the LNP would leave no stone unturned in the case. He expressed confidence that the murder was not linked to the bank truck robbery, but could not rule out that the incident was premeditated nor that the MONROVIA 00001359 002 OF 002 three LAC African employees in the car were involved. His biggest concern was keeping the general peace in Grand Bassa County. He said that local population could become violent easily and worried that they may turn against the police for investigating the crime. EXECUTIVE MANSION PRESS SECRETARY WARNS OF POLITICAL TIES TO MURDER ¶7. (C) Executive Mansion Press Secretary Cyrus Badio said at a press conference November 19 that the murder "had political implications" and "wasn't isolated." He vowed that any politicians found to have ties to the murder would face justice. As of November 20, no political party in country had yet issued a statement expressing condolences, including the Liberty Party, which controls five of the six seats in Grand Bassa County. Senator Nathaniel Innis of the Grand Bassa County Liberty Party expressed condolences for Bruno's death in a radio interview but then continued on to say that the murder could have been avoided if local people had been included in the LAC expansion negotiations. LIBERTY PARTY FACES SCRUTINY, POSSIBLE TRAVEL BAN ¶8. (C) The Chairman of the Liberty Party Israel Akinsanya told us that the GOL was actively trying to link his party to the murder and worried that party officials would soon be threatened. He said that GOL security forces had been ordered to monitor the movement of all senior Liberty party officials and prohibit them from exiting LIBERIA through all border crossings, airports and sea ports. There have been no official announcements, however, that Liberty Party personnel are considered suspects or are subject to any travel ban. ¶9. (C) COMMENT: There is no evidence yet directly linking the Liberty Party to the murder of Michael Bruno. However, because it is considered the most serious opposition to the ruling Unity Party, and its popular base has always been Grand Bassa County, the Liberty Party has been implicated in the public eye. After Edwin Snowe, who was maneuvered out of the House Speakership earlier this year, Liberty Party standard bearer (and 2005 Presidential candidate) Charles Brumskine is the leading political opponent of President Sirleaf and her Unity Party. In is quite possible Unity Party statements are using the murder as a convenient excuse to undermine Brumskine's and the Liberty Party's ability to function as an effective opposition. ¶10. (C) Comment (Cont.): Protection of ancestral land has been one of the most prominent issues of the Liberty Party's local campaign. While they may not have ordered the murder directly, the Party was certainly active in getting the local population to oppose LAC's expansion. The underlying land issues that ultimately lead to the murder of Michael Bruno illustrate exactly why it is so important to Liberia's development to harmonize the traditional tribal land certificates with a formal deed system. END COMMENT. Booth