SLPP PRESS RELEASE ATTACK ON DEMOCRACY, PEACE AND STABILITY Freetown, October 23, 2013. The attention of the National Secretariat of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) has been drawn to the ongoing crackdown on press freedom and democracy. For almost a week now, journalists have been continuously arrested and press houses raided using the infamous and archaic seditious and criminal libel laws. In particular, two journalists, Jonathan Leigh and Bai Bai Sesay of the Independent Observer newspaper were arrested and detained on Friday October 18, 2013 on an allegation of the publication of a libelous article against the President. They have been detained for over 72 hours without trial and in contravention of their constitutional rights. Also, the offices of several press houses are being raided by police officers acting on the instructions of senior government officials. Additionally, other Proprietors, Managing Editors and journalists are being invited to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). The SLPP is concerned that the practice of using the Sierra Leone Police to intimidate journalists in the midst of an Independent Media Commission (IMC), a state institution responsible for regulating the media is a deliberate move by the Government to undermine state institutions. The SLPP is concerned that at a crucial period when our Parliament is discussing the Access to Information Bill and there are persistent local and international pressure to repeal the seditious and criminal libel law, the APC is undermining these efforts by attempting to gag the press. The SLPP is of the view that the ruling APC government is using this current trend as a means of diverting public attention from the deplorable socio-economic condition of the country. These diversionary tactics are unacceptable and we are therefore calling on Government to focus on more important issues like the poor sanitation of Freetown, poor implementation of the roads project, irregular and infrequent electricity supply, limited access to safe drinking water, poor conditions in our schools and colleges and the worsening health status of our people, among others. The SLPP believes that these attacks on the media are not only a deliberate attempt to muzzle press freedom but a violation of the human rights of the journalists involve and an abuse of the rule of law. Furthermore, the SLPP considers these attacks as a major threat to our democracy and the continued peace and stability of the nation. The ongoing onslaught on freedom of expression also portray a bad image of Sierra Leone overseas that is bound to scare away investors with far reaching negative implications for job creation, government’s agenda for prosperity and overall national development. The SLPP therefore: • calls for the immediate release of the journalists and cessation of the raids on press houses • revert all allegations of libel and unethical reporting to the appropriate state institution, the IMC for arbitration • calls on the civil society and international community to engage the government on this ugly pattern of attacks on the media Sulaiman Banja Tejan-Sie National Secretary General
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 16:53:31 +0000
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