SIERRA LEONE: Editor jailed for nine months
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has protested against a nine-month prison sentence imposed on Tuesday on a Sierra Leonean editor, Paul Kamara. His daily newspaper, "For Di People" was closed for six months. Kamara was found guilty of 18 counts of libel and defamation by the High Court in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown.
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SIERRA LEONE: Editor jailed for nine months
ABIDJAN, 15 November (IRIN) - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has protested against a nine-month prison sentence imposed on Tuesday on a Sierra Leonean editor, Paul Kamara. His daily newspaper, "For Di People" was closed for six months.
Kamara was found guilty of 18 counts of libel and defamation by the High Court in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown. He was also fined 4.5 million Leones (US $2000).
The charges against Kamara were filed on 5 April by an appeal court judge, Methland Tholla Thomson, in connection with several articles in his newspaper which called the judge "a thief", "a criminal", and "a constitutional fraudster". The newspaper also ran a photo of the judge with the caption: "This man is dangerous".
RSF secretary-general Robert Menard said: "We call on the competent authorities to dismiss the charges against this journalist, order his immediate release, and authorise the reopening of For Di People."
In a statement issued on Thursday, RSF said the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Abid Hussain, had on 18 January 2000 called on all governments "to ensure that press crimes are no longer subject to prison sentences except for crimes such as racist or discriminatory comments or appeals for violence".
The imposition of a prison sentence for the peaceful expression of opinion "constitutes a serious violation of human rights", it added.
[ENDS]
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