By Foday Moriba Conteh
As part of their strides to accelerate Press Freedom in the country which it has been working to achieve in the past three years, the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG) in collaboration with the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) has on Friday 2nd July, 2021 officially launched the State of Media Freedom in Sierra Leone Report for the last three years (2018-2020) at the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, Harry Yansaneh Hall on Campbell Street in Freetown.
Dr. Francis Sowa (PH.D), National Coordinator of the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG) disclosed that the State of Media Freedom in Sierra Leone report was produced by the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG) together with the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) with support from OSIWA.
He added that the report comprises media freedom issues in the country within the last three years-2018-2020 adding how the report contains an overview of laws, policies and institutions governing the media space in Sierra Leone; key press freedom and the safety of journalists; summary of press freedom violations recorded over the period, analysis of trends of violations, key perpetrators and victims; status of redress of violations; and recommendations to both Governmental and non-Governmental stakeholders on how to improve the situation.
Dr. Francis Sowa intimated that the report reviews the arrest and detentions of journalists over the years using criminal and seditious libel laws in Part V of the ‘Defamatory and Seditions Libel Defamation’ of the Public Order Act (POA) of 1 965 (No. 46 1 965), before the said laws were repealed, stating that Part V of the Public Order Act served as an obstacle to the media in terms of fulfilling its democratic roles due to increased fear of incarceration arising from the provisions of the law which undermined freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution of Sierra Leone, Act No. 6 of 1 991 and by extension, international best practices and standards.
The National Coordinator of MRCG disclosed that even though the criminal libel law has been repealed there are still inconclusive cases relating to the arrest, detention, intimidation and harassment of journalists furthering that MRCG has since 2018 been producing its Press Freedom Reports stating cases, dates of attack/arrest or invitations of journalists and CSOs (relating to freedom of expression) in their line of duty and their current status.
He said that they will continue to call on the Government, politicians, organizations, institutions, members of society and even the media owners to support media freedom and safety and security of journalists in the country.
Addressing the gathering in a victual broadcast, a representative of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Muheeb Saeed, commended the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG) for the collaborative efforts they made to put together the said report.
He raised the point that there is no need for reminders about the threats that journalists are prone to noting that while democratization has brought tremendous changes and swiping reforms to the media legal frameworks in many countries in the sub-region for the past decades, however, the media has seen a roll back of the gains it had made in many countries including Sierra Leone.
He added that in Sierra Leone as many other developing countries public institutions are chronically weak and the authorities sometimes deliberately keep them starve of the needed resources in order to make them ineffective.
He used the opportunity to commend the Government of Sierra Leone for the repeal of the criminal and seditious libel laws in Part V of the ‘Defamatory and Seditions Libel Defamation’ of the Public Order Act (POA) of 1 965 (No. 46 1 965).
Launching the report, President of Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, also applauded the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG) and partners for putting together the State of Media Freedom in Sierra Leone report within the last three years-2018-2020.
He stated that it is important to note that the report covers the period 2018-2020 in almost all of the cases his association intervened to secure the release of affected journalists, adding that as usual in some cases they succeeded and in some they did not but they kept on pushing, adding that some of the cases as highlighted in the report involve usual arrest and detention, physical attacks and assault by State security officers, intimidation, harassment etc.
Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, maintained that however in 2020 the media landscape witnessed one of the historic moments that has to do with the repeal of the criminal and seditious libel laws in Part V ‘Defamatory and Seditions Libel Defamation’ of the Public Order Act (POA) of 1 965 (No. 46 1 965).
The SLAJ President informed the gathering that freedom is not absolute but rather it goes with tremendous responsibility adding that he had been repeatedly informing journalists that even though the criminal and seditious libel laws has been repealed the civil libel law still exists.
He disclosed that following the repeal of the criminal and seditious libel laws they were able to dialogue with the Ministry of Information and Communications to facilitate the dropping of all cases that bordered on the criminal and seditious libel laws that were in court stating that such transpired.
Nasralla told journalists that Freedom of speech is not a license to blackmail or to assassinate someone’s character but rather it is a license for journalists to practice professionally, ethically and responsibly.
Climaxing the event was the official launch of the State of Media Freedom in Sierra Leone Report featuring the last three years-2018-2020 by the President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla.
