By Abass Jalloh
Popular journalist in Bo working for FM KISS 104, Solomon Joe, was yesterday released on bail after he was reportedly arrested by the police for allegedly broadcasting transaction issues between two businessmen.
Earlier after the broadcast that led to his arrest, according to a statement put out by the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG), two officers from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in Freetown reportedly went to Bo on Monday 7th February 2022 and “ordered the arrest”.
Speaking to Politico, the President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, after speaking with the Head of Crime at the CID in Freetown, Joe was released on the same day. He explained that the journalist had a programme at KISS 104 where he made allegations against two Fula businessmen concerning transactions. He said later one of the men felt aggrieved and filed a complaint to the police in Freetown where he said they ordered his arrest and to be brought in Freetown.
As concerns mounted as to why the police did not transfer the matter to the Independent Media Commission (IMC) or the court as they are the bodies responsible for such media matters, Nasralla said the aggrieved man stated he had wanted to caution the journalist Joe because he knew him personally, adding that the journalist had apologized to the businessman and promised to retract the story.
The SLAJ president added that the MRCG did not condemn the act of the journalist but condemned the action of the police. He said the problem with the arrest was that it made the journalist to have committed a criminal offense whereas the repealed Part 5 of the Criminal Libel Law of 1965 did not leave room to criminalize libel and defamation.
The MRCG, which advocates for media freedom and professionalism cautioned that the matter should not be taken as a criminal offense but rather civil.
“While the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG) awaits a statement from the police, it will like to state that by the repeal of Part 5 of the Public Order Act, 1965, publications and broadcasters, even if defamatory, are now civil matters,” the statement reads.
Politico could not get the Police spokesmen to respond to our inquiries at the time of going to the press.
Copyright © 2022 Politico (09/02/22)
