Sierra Leone

(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply concerned over the detention of and assault on Gibril Foday Musa, editor of the Freetown-based “New Tablet” newspaper, by members of the Kamajor civil militia, during the afternoon of 10 June 1999. Musa was detained shortly after the arrest of two journalists of the “Independent Observer”, by soldiers of the […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is greatly alarmed by the arrest on 10 June 1999 of Sorie Sudan Sesay and Jerry Tryson, Jr., editor and reporter, respectively, of the Freetown-based biweekly “Independent Observer” newspaper, and by the raid on their offices. The two men were arrested along with a secretary, by soldiers of the Nigerian-led West African […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – On 18 May 1999, two West African Peacekeeping Force (ECOMOG) officers detained Jonathon Leigh, managing editor for the “Observer” newspaper, on the orders of Maj. Tanko. The arrest without charge was in retaliation for Leigh’s 17 May article in the “Observer,” which reported that Tanko and troops under his command conducted a search […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is protesting the arrest of two journalists in Freetown. According to RSF’s information, Jonathan Leigh, the editor of the “Independent Observer”, was arrested on 17 May 1999 at 11 a.m. (local time) at the newspaper’s office. Four ECOMOG (West African peacekeeping force) soldiers came to have a discussion with him and then […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The Sierra Leone government has increased the special tax on the media by approximately 280 percent, and has required payment in full by the 14 May 1999 deadline. **Updates IFEX alert of 11 May 1999** Background Information On 8 May, Information Minister Julius Spencer announced that all newspapers published in the country must […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – On 11 May 1999, Ahmed Kanneh, Thomas Gbow, and Mohammad Massaquoi, publisher, editor, and news editor, respectively, for “The New Storm” weekly newspaper, were released on a combined bail of five million leones (approx. US$2,400). The three journalists have been charged with publishing an alarmist publication under the 1998 Emergency Press Law. Their […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – On 8 May 1999, Information Minister Julius Spencer announced that all newspapers published in the country must register with the Ministry of Information by 14 May, and that their publishers must pay any outstanding taxes in full in order to receive permission to continue publishing. HASH(0x979c2a0)

(CPJ/IFEX) – At approximately 10:00 a.m. on 5 May 1999, plainclothes detectives from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) detained journalists Ahmed Kanneh, Thomas Gbow, and Mohammad Massaquoi – publisher, editor, and news editor, respectively, for “The New Storm” weekly newspaper – at the newspaper’s offices in Freetown. The journalists were transported to the central police […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an information supplement further to the April 1999 RSF report entitled “Sierra Leone: black January for the press”: **Updates IFEX alert of 4 May and 23 April 1999** Conrad Roy, who had disappeared since January, has just died in prison. Released during the rebel invasion, the former contributor to the […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – On 30 April 1999, “Expo Times” news editor Conrad Roy, imprisoned in Sierra Leone since February 1998, died at the Lakka Tuberculosis Hospital (located approximately 10 miles west of Freetown) from tuberculosis which he contracted while in prison. Roy was transferred to the hospital from the Pademba Road prison during the week of […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an RSF report on the press freedom situation in Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Black January for the press: Nine journalists killed in Freetown Reporters sans frontières April 1999 With the support of the European Commission Introduction On 6 January 1999, rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) entered Freetown. For […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is gravely concerned for the personal safety of journalist Winston Ojukutu-Macauley. On 18 April 1999, Ojukutu-Macauley, Freetown correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), interviewed rebel leader Foday Sankoh – who was conditionally released the same day to attend peace talks in Togo – for that evening’s broadcast of the BBC programme […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – On 8 March 1999, Phillip Neville, managing editor of the independent “Standard Times,” was released from detention. **Updates IFEX alert of 25 February 1999** Background Information On 24 February 1999, plainclothes police officers arrested Neville on the same day of an article titled “Jo Demby’s Partner to Kill Kabbah and Jonah.” The article […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – On 24 February 1999, plainclothes police officers arrested Phillip Neville, managing editor of the independent “Standard Times,” following the newspaper’s publication on the same day of an article titled “Jo Demby’s Partner to Kill Kabbah and Jonah.” The article reported on business ties between Demby, vice president of Sierra Leone, and Yail Galkaleil, […]

** Updates IFEX alerts of 28 January 1999** (CPJ/IFEX) – Munir Turay, a freelance reporter who has been published in the independent newspaper “Punch” and the state-owned newspaper, “Daily Mail,” and who has worked as a correspondent for the state-owned Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS) radio station, was killed on an unspecified date, between 9 […]

** Updates IFEX alerts of 28 January 1999** (CPJ/IFEX) – On 3 February 1999 at 3:00 p.m., Abdulai Jumah Jalloh, news editor of the independent newspaper “African Champion,” was killed by a West African Peacekeeping Forces (ECOMOG) soldier in central Freetown. Jalloh was in the company of “African Champion” editor Mohammed D. Koroma, en route […]