sierra leone: Editor arrested and detained

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To: IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), [email protected]

Sierra Leone Alert

October 9, 2003

Editor arrested and detained

* The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and the Media Foundation of
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 October 3 2003, Paul Kamara, managing editor of the "For-Di-People"
newspaper, was arrested and detained at the headquarters of the Criminal
Investigation Department (CID) in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Kamara was
released after seven hours and asked to report the following morning.

According to Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)-Sierra Leone sources,
Kamara was arrested at the instance of Attorney General and Minster of
Justice, Eke Halloway, and queried about a front page article published in
the October 3, 2003 edition of the paper. The article challenged the
constitutional legality of the Speaker of Parliament, Justice Edmond Cowan's
defense of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah in Parliament.

Justice Cowan had reacted in Parliament to recent media publications that
insinuated that President Kabbah was found guilty in 1968 by a Commission of
Inquiry headed by Justice Beoku Betts. The Beoku Betts Commission was set up
to investigate alleged fraud at the Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board
(SLPMB) while President Kabbah was serving as Permanent Secretary at the
Ministry of Trade.

The "For-Di-People" newspaper had, for the last week been serializing
verbatim, the Beoku Betts Commission report, much to the chagrin of the
Speaker of Parliament and some government officials.

The Speaker, quoting relevant provisions of the constitution, argued that
President Kabbah was not a convict because a Commission of Inquiry did not
have the powers of a High Court.

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) considers the arrest, detention
and interrogation of Kamara for disagreeing with the Speaker on the
constitutional interpretation of the Beoku Betts Commission's report as an
abuse of power and a manifestation of intolerance of dissent.

The MFWA appeals to the government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah to
demonstrate a commitment to media freedom and freedom of expression in
Sierra Leone by permitting the independent and critical debate of issues of
public interest.

Kindly protest the arrest and detention of Mr Paul Kamara, and address it
to:

H. E. Tejan Kabbah
Office of The President
State House
Tel: 232-22-232101
Fax: 232-22-231404
Email: [email protected]
Freetown, Sierra Leone

Minister for Information
Youyi Building, 9th Floor
Freetown
Sierra Leone

The Media Relations Officer
Office of the President
State Lodge
Tel: 232-22-232101
Fax: 232-22-231404
Email: [email protected]
Hill Station, Freetown
Sierra Leone

Enquiries:

Media Foundation for West Africa
Prof Kwame Karikari
Executive Director (MFWA)
P. O. Box LG 730
Legon, Ghana
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 233-21-24 24 70
Fax: 233-21-22 10 84
Web: http://www.mediafoundationwa.org

Enquiries:

Media Institute of Southern Africa
Zoe Titus
Program Coordinator: Media Freedom Monitoring
21 Johann Albrecht Street
Private Bag 13386
Windhoek, Namibia
Tel: +264 61 232 975
Fax: +264 61 248 016
Web: http://www.misa.org

PROMOTING MEDIA DIVERSITY . PLURALISM . SELF-SUFFICIENCY . INDEPENDENCE

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of MISA**