Sierra Leone: Journalists detained, charged with "seditious libel"
The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned the criminal charges brought against two journalists from the private weekly newspaper Trumpet. Managing editor Sydney Pratt and reporter Dennis Jones were arrested and were being held at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the capital, Freetown, where the paper is based. Both have been charged with "seditious libel" under Sierra Leone's draconian 1965 Public Order Act, which local journalists have long struggled to have removed from the books.
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ALERT - SIERRA LEONE
26 May 2005
Journalists detained, charged with "seditious libel"
SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York
(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 25 May 2005 CPJ press release:
SIERRA LEONE: Journalists detained, charged with "seditious libel"
New York, May 25, 2005 - The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the
criminal charges brought today against two journalists from the private
weekly newspaper Trumpet. Managing editor Sydney Pratt and reporter Dennis
Jones were arrested yesterday and were being held at the Criminal
Investigation Department (CID) in the capital, Freetown, where the paper is
based.
Both have been charged with "seditious libel" under Sierra Leone's draconian
1965 Public Order Act, which local journalists have long struggled to have
removed from the books.
According to the journalists, who spoke to CPJ from detention, the charge
stems from an article published in yesterday's Trumpet headlined "Kabbah Mad
over Carew Bribe Scandal." The article, citing an unnamed source, said
President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was angered by earlier reports alleging that
Attorney General and Justice Minister Frederick Carew had accepted bribes.
In October 2004, journalist Paul Kamara was sentenced to two concurrent
two-year prison sentences under the Public Order Act, stemming from October
2003 articles that criticized the president. Kamara, editor and publisher of
For Di People newspaper, remains in jail.
"Authorities' use of the outdated and repressive Public Order Act to harass
and imprison critical journalists is shameful," said Ann Cooper, CPJ's
executive director. "CPJ calls for the immediate, unconditional release of
Sydney Pratt, Dennis Jones, and Paul Kamara, and for all criminal charges
against them to be dropped."
For further information, contact Africa Program Coordinator Julia Crawford
or Research Associate Alexis Arieff at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave., New York, NY
10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465 1004, fax: +1 212 465 9568, e-mail:
[email protected], Internet: http://www.cpj.org/
The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of CPJ.
In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit CPJ.
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