By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The opposition Coalition for Change (C4C) party has said it is considering the possibility of suing the Sierra Leone Police over the “unlawful” treatment of its members. The party’s Secretary General, Koigor Aloysious Foh told Politico that their lawyers will decide on this by next week.
His statement comes at the backdrop of violent skirmishes between the Police and the supporters of C4C over the weekend when their former presidential caondidate Chief Sam-Sumana was prevented from entering Port Loko Town.
Mr Sam-Sumana’s entourage was tear gassed, forcing him to leave the town.
The Police defended its action, saying the politician did not inform it prior to his intended visit to enable them provide the necessary security.
“In spite of several warnings, he refused to abide by police instructions and thereafter disembarked from his vehicle and headed towards the township on foot, followed by a hostile crowd. At this point, the SLP leadership again stopped and reminded him of an imminent public disorder and threat to his safety and security and that of others,” the police said in a statement.
The action of the Police provoked anger among opposition supporters, particularly C4C members.
The party in a statement issued on Monday condemned the police’s action and blamed the Sierra Leone People’s Party-led government of orchestrating what C4C termed as ‘terrorism’ against its leader.
“The international community is advised to intervene immediately to stop these acts of terrorism by the SLPP government, as seen by not only this attack but by those at other political party offices,” the statement reads.
Foh who signed the statement sent to media houses and shared on social media explained to Politico about how far they have gone since then.
“We have spoken to our lawyers; we are waiting for them to give us the appropriate advice, but we want to see if we can take it to the next level. The possibility is that the human right of Sam Sumana and his party supporters have been infringed upon and the actions of the Police is unlawful. It is unprofessional and doesn’t show that they acted on any legal base,” he said in an interview.
C4C is currently preoccupied with ongoing campaign in a bye-election slated for this month for a council seat in its strong hold of Kono, and much of the party’s attention has been invested in that campaign. And Mr Foh said they intend to concentrate on that for now.
“That is much more paramount. When it is over then we will pay attention to this,” he said.
“We have spoken to our lawyers, so we will take the next step. Whether legal or not, we will know what to do,” he added.
C4C is one of at least two political parties which publicly condemned the Police recent action against supporters of the main opposition All Peoples Congress last month.
Despite their strong stands on Police actions, Foh said C4C is open to having a dialogue with the force.
“The issue about getting a dialogue with Police officials is a very good one but you know the Police don’t even care or are not even remorseful. They don’t even seem to want to take responsibility of their reckless actions. So as far as we know you can only have a dialogue with someone who owns up to certain things,” Foh said.
He added: “Dialogue is one step forward to resolve conflicting situations, but this Police need to be accountable for their actions.”
And despite the confrontation with Police, Foh said this will not change how their leader moves across the country. He insisted that Chief Sumana as a citizen has a right to move freely without any obligation to inform the Police.
“The man is a citizen, you can’t change his movement. As a citizen you can move across this country, this is what the 1991 constitution says. He is still going to move freely as a citizen of this country.”
© 2019 Politico Online
