Liberia denies bail to journalists

They were accused of tainting President Taylor's image

A Liberian judge has denied bail to four foreign television journalists being held there on charges of spying.

"At 6pm last night, my clients were taken to the National Security Agency where they were subjected to torture

Defence lawyer Varney Sherman

Lawyers for the journalists - two Britons, a Sierra Leonean and a South African - say their clients have been tortured while in jail.

"I am reluctant to grant bail as the presumption of guilt is great," Judge Timothy Swope told the court in Monrovia.

The four - who were working on a documentary for Britain's Channel 4 network - were arrested on Friday, and charged on Monday.

'Mistreated'

A Channel 4 spokeswoman told the BBC that the four had been subjected to psychological but not physical ill-treatment while in custody at Liberia's National Security Agency.

Earlier reports that the men had been tortured were not correct, the spokeswoman said.

David Barrie: One of the four men arrested on Friday

The men facing charges are:

• David Barrie (UK)
• Timothy Lambon (UK)
• Gugulakhe Radebe (South Africa)
• Sorious Samoura (Sierra Leone).

All had official permission to work in Liberia, and their arrest sparked angry protests from the international community and press freedom groups.

If convicted, the men face up to 10 years in jail or the death penalty - the maximum sentence for espionage.

But Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo says he has been in contact with President Taylor recently, and believes that they will be released "sooner rather than later"

Mr Obasanjo said he did not believe the men were spies.

President Taylor has promised a speedy and transparent trial, but insisted they must face trial before clemency could be considered.

"No one who comes here and commits crime will go free because he is a citizen of a big power," he said.

The UK Government has warned Liberia's President Charles Taylor that he risks international isolation over the issue.

"They are not spies, they are journalists, and this is an attack on international press freedom," Foreign Office Minister Peter Hain told the BBC.

International appeal

The US special envoy to Africa, Rev Jesse Jackson and Malian President Alpha Omar Konare - head of the West African regional grouping Ecowas - have also appealed for the mens' release.

Sorious Samoura: Producer of the documentary Cry Freetown

South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela urged President Taylor to set the men free in a telephone conversation, his spokeswoman Zelda la Grange said.

In response, Taylor said there was "clear evidence in the case" but that he would respond to Mr Mandela after a day or two.

Liberia has accused the men of filming in no-go areas, seeking to damage the country's image and falsely linking President Taylor to diamond smuggling.

Mr Taylor is accused of supporting the RUF

Channel 4's programme director Tim Gardam told the BBC that the crew were working on a three-part series on how an African country can "climb out of the cycle of civil violence".

"The film was discussed in detail with the Liberian authorities before we went. We had already interviewed the minister of defence," he said.

In recent weeks, Liberia has repeatedly denounced what it says are international plots against Mr Taylor.

Both Washington and London accuse the Liberia of involvement in sales of diamonds mined by Sierra Leonean rebels.

Mr Taylor, a former warlord in Liberia's civil war, has long had links with the rebels.