Now it is clear and once again I have been exonerated. Everyone knows now what I have been saying since 2007 is true about Ernest. Now Ernest has shown that he is a coocoo!!! Now things has totally fallen apart. The center is clearly and largely leaking. The center is so slippery no one will challenge holding it. Ernest has gone coocoo Now David Tam-Baryoh has been whisked into prison and severely maltreated. The man that stood his ground to see that Ernest Bai Coocoo Koroma be elected and reelected. Now David is between life and death in Pademba road prison. Now the arrest of David Tam Baryoh is likely to create some kind of massive reaction if anything happens to him in that jail. Now there is the news that David is in poor health condition in that prison. Now the world is closely watching the issues that are unfolding in that country as regards to the Ebola and the rampant breach of individual human rights. Now is the time to for us to say NO NO NO NO NO. COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS Abuja, Nigeria, November 4, 2014--A journalist in Sierra Leone has been imprisoned after criticizing President Ernest Bai Koromas handling of the Ebola outbreak, according to news reports and local journalists. David Tam Baryoh was arrested on Monday. Baryoh, host of the popular weekly Monologue radio program aired on the independent Citizen FM, was arrested in his office by police who did not have a warrant, according to news reports and local journalists. Baryoh was initially detained overnight at the Police Criminal Investigation headquarters in the capital, Freetown, where he met briefly with his lawyer, local journalists told CPJ. He was not allowed to see his wife. Local journalists said they believed Baryohs arrest to be in connection with the November 1 Monologue show, which was taken off the air during its live broadcast, Kelvin Lewis, president of Sierra Leones Association of Journalists, told CPJ. In that show, Baryoh interviewed an opposition party spokesman who criticized Koroma and his governments handling of the Ebola outbreak, local journalists said. Baryoh and the party spokesman also criticized Koromas intention to run for a third term in office, according to news reports. During the program, Baryoh also interviewed Vice-President Samuel Sam-Sumana, whose relationship with Koroma has soured, according to local press reports. Lewis told CPJ that he met Baryoh at the police station, where the journalist told him the police had showed him an executive detention order signed by President Ernest Bai Koroma, which accused him of incitement. While Baryoh was at the station, a doctor diagnosed him with high blood pressure and recommended hospitalization, Lewis said. However, police, citing emergency powers given to President Koroma, remanded Baryoh to the Bamenda Maximum Security Prison. No official charges have been filed against him. Under the current state of emergency in Sierra Leone, intended to restrict spreading of the Ebola virus, the president has wide-ranging powers, including the arrest of any person without a court order, Lewis told CPJ. BBC correspondent Umaru Fofana who visited Baryoh in prison wrote on Facebook that the journalist was struggling to stand upright as he repeatedly bent down and held his knees. Sierra Leones genuine state of emergency means that critical thinking and public debate are more important than ever. Locking away journalists without charge helps nobody, said Peter Nkanga, CPJs West Africa representative. We call on President Ernest Bai Koroma to ensure that David Tam Baryoh is released immediately and that journalists are allowed to do their jobs freely. Osho Coker, Secretary to the President, declined to comment to CPJ. Information Minister Alpha Kanu did not reply to CPJs calls or a text message. Baryoh has been targeted by government officials in the past. In January, he was arrested and accused of seditious libel, according to news reports. In May, Monologue was banned for two months following a government directive, according to news reports.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 18:20:55 +0000
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