The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) has on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 announced the formation of a broad based committee named “The SLAJ Criminal Libel Repeal Advocacy Group” to lobby for the last lap in the process of repealing the Criminal and Seditious Libel laws contained in the Public Order Act of 1965.
The formation of the Committee could logically be attributed to recent hiccups in the process repealing the Criminal Libel Law. The Committee comprises twenty-seven individuals including representatives from the Independence Media Commission (IMC), the Chairman of the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG), former Presidents of SLAJ, senior members of SLAJ, international partners and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
Part Five of Sierra Leone’s Public Order Act of 1965 criminalizes any publication that is deemed defamatory or seditious. This law has been used by the Establishment in the past and now to unduly target and imprison media practitioners and silence dissenting views. The Bill which sought to repeal defamatory and seditious Libel Laws in Sierra Leone is entitled: “The Public Order (Amendment) Act, 2019,” was tabled in the well of Parliament on November 14, 2019, for the first time in the 54-year fight to repeal the infamous Criminal Libel Law in Sierra Leone. But unfortunately, parliament has withdrawn it by evoking Standing Order (SO) 59.
It could be recalled that following the presentation of the aforementioned Bill in the well of Parliament by the Minister of Information and Communications, deliberation on it was deferred when Parliamentary went on recess. Since then the Ministry and its partners have engaged various stakeholders, including Parliamentary Oversight Committees, the Law Officers Department, the Independent Media Commission, SLAJ and its constituent bodies, and also the general public on the repeal process.
Reiterating his campaign promise to repeal the Public Order Act , Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio, during the State Opening of the Third Session of the Fifth Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone at Tower Hill in Freetown, reaffirmed his commitment to repealing the Criminal Libel law, but five days after President Bio expressed his commitment to repealing the Act, the new Leader of Government Business in Parliament, Hon Mathew Nyuma on Tuesday June 2, 2020 evoked Parliamentary Standing Order 59, which states that a bill should not be tabled in parliament if it has exceeded three months.
The Ministry of Information and Communications has also reassured the public that the Bill entitled “The Public Order (Amendment) Bill, 2019” would soon be tabled before Parliament in the Third Session of the Fifth Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone.
The President of SLAJ, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, is optimistic that Part 5 of the Public Order Act of 1965 would be expunged by Parliament.
SLAJ said in a statement on Wednesday June 17, 2020 that working alongside the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Group would coordinate the lobbying of Members of the Sierra Leone Parliament to see reason and repeal the law without delay.
SLAJ Criminal Libel Repeal Advocacy Group members include: SLAJ: Sorie Fofanah (Managing Editor, Global Times), – Chairperson Sheikh Bawoh, Amb. Jonathan Leigh, Mariama Coker, Ibrahim Babatunde Sesay, Abdulai Bayraytay, Femi Coker, Shekha Tarawallie (Shekhito), Unisa Sesay, Alhaji Dauda Bangura, Musa Mewa Esq., Mohamed ‘One Drop’ Sankoh, Asmaa James, Kadijah Bangura, Edwina Sia Janga, and Elias Bangura.
IMC chairman George Khoryama, MRCG: Dr. Francis Sowa Past Presidents (SLAJ): Kelvin Lewis- SLAJ, Umaru Fofana- SLAJ,
CSOs: Society for Democratic Initiatives (SDI)- Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai, Campaign for Good Governance (CGG)- Marcella Samba Sesay, Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law- Sierra Leone (CARL-SL)- Ibrahim Tommy, Campaign for Human Rights and Development International (CHRDI)- Abdul M. Fatoma, International Partners: West Africa Journalists Association (WAJA)- Peter Quaqa, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)- Angela Quintal, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Federation of African Journalists (FAJ)- Pa Louis Thomasi including Mohamed Asmieu Bah- SLAJ, Secretary to Group.
By Stephen V. Lansana
23/6/2020. ISSUE NO.: 7851