Liberia: 'I Felt a Knock From the Back' - Police Brutalizes Woman Street Vendor

Monrovia — Sonie James was not in the wrong place at the wrong time but an officer of the Liberia National Police struck her in the left eye, leaving her with temporary blindness, at least until an ophthalmologist can decide the fate of her eye.

"My market finished by 5 p.m. and then my little sister said she was hungry, so when I opened my money bucket to give her money for food I just felt someone knocked me from the back, and when I turned I saw a PSU officer with his shirt opened and he knocked the rattan in my left eye and asked what are you doing on the street at this hour?" explained 24-year-old Sonie, a sandwich seller. According to Sonie, her goods, cell phone and her money were taken away by officers of the Police Support Unit (PSU) on Wednesday, January 4 evening on Buchanan Street during a raid. She said the men had batons and rattans.

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