Four female journalists kidnapped, subjected to public humiliation by supporters of female genital mutilation
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 7 February 2009, four female journalists were taken hostage in Kanema, approx. 200 km from Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, by members of a traditional female group called the Bondo Society. The group contested the journalists’ reporting of female genital mutilation (FGM) practices in the county. Manjama Balama-Samba and Henrietta Kpaka […]
Media advocate Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai receives death threats after criticising government
(MFWA/IFEX) – Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai, the executive director of Society for Democratic Initiatives (SDI), a Sierra Leone media advocacy organisation, received death threats on 6 February 2009 over his alleged criticism of the ruling All People’s Congress (APC) government. According to an MFWA source, the anonymous person accused Abdulai of giving opponents of the government […]
Youth party leader orders dismissal of radio journalist Gibril Gorttor
(MFWA/IFEX) – In a 20 January 2009 letter, the chairman of the youth wing of the ruling All People’s Congress (APC) in the District of Kambia in northern Sierra Leone, Sorieba Yillah, ordered the dismissal of Gibril Gorttor, a reporter for Kollenten 92.4 FM, a community radio station in the area, for his alleged critical […]
World Report 2009: Sierra Leone
World Report 2009: Sierra Leone
Radio station vandalised, staff members threatened with death
(MFWA/IFEX) – An angry mob from Tombo, a rural town 40 km from Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, on 24 November 2008 besieged the premises of Voice of Peninsular, a community radio station in the town and destroyed the station’s broadcasting equipment. The youth also took away two of the station’s transmitters and other […]
Media advocacy group receives death threats
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: Media advocacy group receives death threats in Sierra Leone New York, October 17, 2008 – The director and a staff member of the Society for Democratic Initiatives (SDI), a Sierra Leone media advocacy group, say they are receiving death threats after publishing a report on press […]
Police Council assumes responsibility in assault on journalists, pledges compensation for damages
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 24 September 2008, the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) lifted the news blackout it imposed on the activities of the country’s police over attacks on some of its members by police personnel. The Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent reported that the lifting of the ban followed the intervention of […]
Journalists impose news blackout on police activities to protest assault on colleagues
(MFWA/IFEX) – The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) on September 22, 2008 imposed a news blackout on police activities as part of a campaign to demand justice for journalists who were violently assaulted by Sierra Leone Police Force personnel in August. On August 13, police personnel deployed at the country’s State House in Freetown, […]
Ruling party militants ransack opposition radio station, knock it out of service; journalists manhandled by security personnel
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 13 August 2008, Unity Radio, a Freetown-based radio station owned by the opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), was ransacked by supporters of the ruling All People’s Congress party (APC), disrupting the normal broadcast of the station. MFWA’s correspondent reported that the attackers stormed the station, which is located within the premises […]
Security personnel assault, injure eight journalists covering political party meeting
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 13 August 2008, security personnel deployed at the State House in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, violently assaulted eight journalists covering a meeting between the ruling All Peoples Congress Party (APC) and the main opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP). The MFWA correspondent reported that security personnel, including policemen, assailed the […]
Unity Radio exonerated by media regulatory body after being shut down by information minister
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 21 May 2008, the Independent Media Commission (IMC), Sierra Leone’s media regulatory body, cleared Unity Radio, a station operated by the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), of four allegations of misconduct. MFWA’s correspondent reported that the decision was made after Unity Radio was forcibly shut down on 8 May on the orders […]
SLBS refutes claim Unity Radio station’s antenna improperly installed; radio station’s closure will limit pre-election free expression, says RSF
(RSF/IFEX) – On 14 May 2008, Reporters Without Borders wrote to information and communication minister Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo asking him to explain his 8 May decision to close Unity Radio 94.00 FM, a station operated by the opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), and urging him to reconsider. “With less than two months to […]
Opposition radio station shut down
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 8 May 2008, Unity Radio, a station run by Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), was shut down on the orders of the Minister of Information and Communication, Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo. Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent reported that the closure, according to Kargbo, was due to the installation of an […]
Government threatens criminal prosecution of newspaper over articles critical of president
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 6 May 2008, the press secretary to State House, Sheka Tarawally, threatened “New Vision”, an independent Freetown-based newspaper, with legal action if the newspaper failed to retract three articles it published accusing President Ernest Bai Koroma of being wasteful. MFWA’s correspondent reported that Tarawally lodged a formal complaint with the Independent Media […]
World Report 2008: Sierra Leone
World Report 2008: Sierra Leone
Journalists’ group challenges libel laws used to silence critics
(MFWA/IFEX) – The following is a 3 March 2008 MFWA press release: LAWSUIT SEEKS GREATER FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN SIERRA LEONE Journalists’ Group Challenges Libel Laws Used to Silence Critics Accra and New York, March 3, 2008 – Journalists in Sierra Leone are challenging laws that criminalize free speech and authorize prison terms of up […]