(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Transport and Communications Momoh Pujeh, RSF protested against the attack on Mustapha Bai Attilla, a blind reporter from the radio station Voice of the Handicapped. The organisation called on the minister to “do everything in his power to ensure that such assaults against journalists do not happen […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Transport and Communications Momoh Pujeh, RSF protested against the attack on Mustapha Bai Attilla, a blind reporter from the radio station Voice of the Handicapped. The organisation called on the minister to “do everything in his power to ensure that such assaults against journalists do not happen again”. “It is unacceptable that officials from your ministry beat a journalist because of remarks he made on the radio,” said Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary-general. “We would like to remind you that Sierra Leone ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which guarantees ‘the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas’,” added Ménard.
According to information obtained by RSF, officials from the Ministry of Transport and Communication attacked Mustapha Bai Attilla on 7 October 2000, in the streets of Freetown. They forcefully separated the journalist from his two guides and then beat him up, telling him to “keep his mouth shut”. On several occasions, the journalist exposed corruption at the state-owned company Sierratel on the radio. Mustapha Bai Attilla continues to suffer from pain in his chest especially when breathing.
Finally, RSF reminded the minister that another journalist has been detained in Freetown since 11 May. Abdul Kuyateh, editor of the weekly “Wisdom Newspaper” is accused of “being a rebel collaborator”. He could be sentenced to death. He wrote a story in December 1999 about the government’s alleged hiring of mercenaries.
