All charges against Liberia’s prominent government critic Henry Costa has been dropped, the government said late Thursday.
The media personality who has long clashed with the government has been invited to return to his native West African country from the U.S.
A former international football star who came to power in 2018, Costa is a fierce opponent of President George Weah.
In 2019, a Costa-owned radio station was shut down. The government argued that it was inciting violence and engaging in blackmail.
Later the same year, Costa flew into Liberia to support anti-Weah protests in which he played a leading role in staging.
But he fled the country in early 2020 after the authorities summoned him for allegedly using forged travel documents.
On Thursday, the justice ministry stated that it had dropped all charges and criminal investigations against Costa with immediate effect.
It also ordered the return of his confiscated broadcast equipment and urged him to return to Liberia to “live freely like any other citizen”.
However, the ministry also warned the radio host against propagating misinformation and called on him to obey the law.
“The ministry of justice will not sit idly by to allow anyone to hijack or swamp the democratic space with lies, invectives and misinformation for selfish reasons,” the statement said.
Costa in a Facebook post on Thursday said he welcomed the decision.
