By Francis H. Murray
The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) has drawn the attention of the Chief Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards to their recent investigations indicating that the Male Correctional Center in Freetown is hosting 250 inmates without indictment.
When officials of the Commission met the Chief Justice on Monday at the main Law Courts building to present their findings on the status of inmates at the male Correctional facility, the Deputy Director of Monitoring and Research Directorate at the Commission Brima Kelson Sesay said apart from 250 inmates who were kept in Prison without indictments, four inmates who had completed their respective sentences were still being incarcerated because committal warrants were not available.
He attributed the anomaly to the fire incident at the Pademba road Correctional Center which left copies of committal warrants destroyed with corresponding copies from the judiciary not produced.
He said the irregularities could be chiefly responsible for overcrowding at the prisons with the total number of inmates now standing at 1,400 for various offences including murder and robbery with aggravation.
The visiting team commended the Justice Edwards for what they referred to as the massive transformation in the judiciary due to the reforms including the decentralization drive and expeditious facilitation of fair trials.
In his response, the chief Justice welcomed the Commission’s efforts which he said brought forward “genuine concerns in the administration of justice.’’ He said addressing the issue of overcrowding within the correctional facilities nationwide has been at the hallmark of his administration which he said was demonstrated through the ‘Outdoor Prison Court’ that was held in September, 2019.
He added that 47 inmates including those serving lengthy jail terms were released on Habeas Corpus applications and eventually discharged for want of prosecution, while others were discharged because of the time spent in relation to the offences they were charged with.
While he assured representatives of the HRCSL that his administration will swiftly address the issue of the lack of indictments for prisoners and overcrowding if there were any, he called for the list of the 250 reported inmates without indictment to be formally brought to the judiciary and “I will ensure that those not yet served with their indictments are served without any further delay.”
Chief Justice Edwards said the judiciary under his leadership has ensured the reduction of the inmate population from over 2000 to just above 1000, but added that the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent burning at the correctional center must have been underlying factors for the increase in number of inmates.
He expressed the view that: “In May 2020, I had wanted to concentrate on remand prisoners because I discovered that some magistrates were not granting bail for even minor offences but COVID 19 placed restrictions on this plan.”
He reaffirmed his commitment to addressing the concerns raised by the Commission and urgently called for a meeting with the relevant stakeholders in the justice sector especially the head of the Correctional Centre, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board.
The Oversight Commissioner for the Directorate of Complaint and Legal Service, Simitie Lavaly and the Oversight Commissioner for the Directorate of Monitoring and Research, Dr. Gassan Abess were part of the visiting team.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online
