(MISA/IFEX) – The following is a joint MISA-MFWA alert: **MISA and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), as a joint activity, will henceforth issue alerts, statements and appeals to highlight media freedom and wider human rights violations in West Africa. See www.misa.org and www.mediafoundationwa.org for more information** On 11 October 2003, Paul Kamara, editor […]
(MISA/IFEX) – The following is a joint MISA-MFWA alert:
**MISA and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), as a joint activity, will henceforth issue alerts, statements and appeals to highlight media freedom and wider human rights violations in West Africa. See www.misa.org and www.mediafoundationwa.org for more information**
On 11 October 2003, Paul Kamara, editor and publisher of “For-Di-People” daily newspaper, and three employees of the printing press where the paper is printed were charged with two counts of “seditious libel” against President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah. They are being detained at the Padema Road maximum security prison in Freetown, following their failure to meet the stiff bail conditions imposed by the court.
Those detained with Kamara are Lovette Charles, the 60-year-old owner of the printing press, Brima Sesay and Joseph Charles.
According to MFWA-Sierra Leone, Kamara and the printing press employees were first picked up on 10 October and held at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters. They were arraigned before a court the following day and charged as a result of an article in the newspaper’s 3 October edition entitled, “Kabbah a True Convict”.
The article stated that President Kabbah was found guilty in 1968 by the Beoku Betts Commission, set up to probe alleged fraud at the Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board. At the time, Kabbah was a Minister of Trade permanent secretary. However, Speaker of Parliament Justice Edmond Cowan took issue with the publication, arguing in Parliament that President Kabbah was not a convict because a commission of inquiry did not have the powers of a High Court. The paper subsequently began serialising verbatim the Beoku Betts Commission report.
Bail was set at Le50 million (approx. US$21,400) each, but Kamara and the three others were unable to meet this condition. They are being held in prison and are scheduled to reappear in court on 18 October.
Lovette Charles has reportedly fallen ill after spending the night in a CID cell. When she appeared in court, she vowed never to print a newspaper again. Several newspapers have since failed to appear on the newsstands.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Send appeals to the president:
– expressing concern about the repeated arrests, detention and fines against Kamara
– expressing concern about the prohibitive bail conditions imposed on the four detained individuals
– urging the government and judiciary to avoid actions that could gag the independent press and stifle freedom of expression in the country
APPEALS TO:
H. E. Tejan Kabbah
Office of The President
State House
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Tel: +232 22 232101
Fax: +232 22 231404
E-mail: info@statehouse-sl.org
Minister of Information
Youyi Building, 9th Floor
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Media Relations Officer
Office of the President
State Lodge
Hill Station
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Tel: +232 22 232101
Fax: +232 22 231404
E-mail: info@statehouse-sl.org
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
