Liberia detains journalist for reposting article that alleges President Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea is a cannibal

A Liberian newspaper editor was on Thursday arrested after publishing an article from Britain’s Daily Mail website that alleges the President of Equatorial Guinea is a cannibal.

On Sunday the British tabloid posted an article about long-time President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo alleging the strongman skinned opponents alive and ate their testicles, brains and livers.

The New Democrat reprinted certain elements of the piece by journalist Thomas Burrows on its Wednesday front page, attracting the ire of the information minister.

Festus Poquie, editor of the New Democrat newspaper, was then detained by plain-clothed police and locked in a cell for several hours before his release on Thursday afternoon.

“The Liberia National Police can confirm that its Crime Services Division is holding a conversation with a senior Editor of the New Democrat, Festus Poquie,” a police statement sent to AFP read.