(RSF/IFEX) – In an 18 February 2000 letter to Justice Minister Solomon Berewa, RSF protested the detention of two journalists in Freetown. RSF urged the minister to do everything in his power to secure the release on bail of Ayodele Lukobi Johnson and Ayodele Walters, managing editor and reporter, respectively, with “Rolyc Newspaper”. Robert Ménard, […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In an 18 February 2000 letter to Justice Minister Solomon Berewa, RSF protested the detention of two journalists in Freetown. RSF urged the minister to do everything in his power to secure the release on bail of Ayodele Lukobi Johnson and Ayodele Walters, managing editor and reporter, respectively, with “Rolyc Newspaper”. Robert Ménard, secretary-general of the organisation, added that, in a document dated 14 July 1992, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights stressed that “detention as punishment for the expression of an opinion is one of the most reprehensible means to enjoin silence, and as such constitutes a serious violation of human rights”.
According to information gathered by RSF, on 16 February, Lukobi Johnson and Walters were summoned to appear in a Freetown court. They were immediately arrested, denied bail and taken to Pademba Road prison. They have been charged with “sedition”, “libel” and “publishing false news”. “Rolyc Newspaper” had earlier published a story alleging that President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah and two ministers – who are also members of his family – had participated in “sacrificing a virgin” in 1997 when a military regime was in power, in an attempt to restore the elected government to power. An arrest warrant has also been issued against David Njai, who wrote the incriminating article.
