Although government officials say Kemo Sesay falls foul of the cyber law, opposition politicians hold a contrary view. They maintain that the arrest is a continuation of government’s crackdown on the main opposition, All People’s Congress APC).
The law in question prohibits the use of invectives via on-line against any citizen. Any breach of the cyber law is punishable by law. Police alleged that the accused did use foul language via social media against President Julius Maada Bio who made a report to the police.
Former Minister of Public Works is the first victim of the cyber-security and Crime law since its enactment last year. Mr Sesay has been ik n detention in a CID (Criminal Investigation Department) cell before he was transferred to the country’s main correctional facility in Freetown.
Bail was refused during his first appearance in a magistrate court in Freetown presided over by Sahr Kekura. Media reports indicate that the ex-minister will reappear in court this Monday, but signs of bail still remains faint.
In his first appearance, Sesay’s lawyers have submitted that their client was not properly brought before the court saying the charge was wrong.
They cited the cyber and criminal procedure laws of Sierra Leone to pinpoint their arguments. State prosecutors could not respond to the defence lawyers’ arguments as they were ill-prepared.
They however plead with the magistrate to adjourn the matter to a convenient date for them to respond to the defence’s claims. This means the former minister would spend days behind bars. Application by his lawyers for bail was rejected outright by the presiding magistrate who claims that the crime is a serious one. Any hope for the former minister getting bail is a wait-and see fair.
Like Sesay, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr Samura Kamara also battles it out at the high court with corruption allegations. Kamara who was flag-bearer for the main opposition in 2018 elections is the dock for an offence deceiving a principal.
Unlike Sesay, Kamara was granted bail in his first appearance before the court, and the case is on-going with no one knowing when a verdict would be handed down. He is one of the flag-bearer favourites for 2023 electrons, but the albatross hanging over his neck cast fears on his fate of clinching the party’s flag in a convention slated for next month.
APC politicians fear a situation in which Kamara would be convicted after emerging as the party’s flag-bearer. Alfred Peter Conteh who took the party to court held similar fears. His argument on major media platforms has always been he does not want APC to score an own goal. Despite the tightness of Conteh’s argument, the grassroot membership have thrown in their lot with Kamara, a man to whom they have pledged unwavered loyalty. His trial however is also a time-telling phenomenon.
The two above are not the only persons in the list trials. Former Minister of Political and Public Affairs, Karmoh Kabba too is answering to criminal charges in a magistrate court in Freetown. The former minister is accused of masterminding and inciting violence and thuggery during a bye-election in Constituency 110 in the Western-rural district. State prosecutors also alleged that the property of the SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) candidate, Josephine Jackson was vandalised by APC (All People’s Congress). Before his arrest, Kabba was highly critical of the SLPP government for issues he referred to as bad governance. He outrightly condemned Bio’s government for failing to go by the legally accepted steps of setting up a commission of inquiry to look into issues of maladministration during the Ernest Bai Koroma government between 2007 and 2018.
Kabba’s case is now over a year old in the court without any clue about when a verdict would be handed down. Opposition politicians have always argued that matters against the main opposition is a product of a long term plan by the SLPP government. The plan is to see key political opponents behind bars until after elections.
This press has been intimated that government seems ready to hold opposition politicians to ransom using the police and judiciary.
Sierra Leone’s judiciary, according to a recent EU press release is untrustworthy. When SLPP took over state governance in 2018 , several ministers were also arrested and detained without bail although most times although the crimes are bailable. Former Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, Dr Sylvia Blyden was also arrested and charged with seditious libel and publication of false news.
She was held in a police cell for close to three weeks without bail. The former minister however got back her freedom through a presidential clemency. Alfred Paolo Conteh was also held in a prison cell for close to a year without bail. The former minister was charged with treason, being in possession of arms and ammunition more than the those registered and licensed and carrying weapons to a public place.
The charges were flimsy and frivolous resulting into the acquittal and discharge of the accused leaving only two offences. These offeences were also appealed against by the accused’s lawyer, Dr Abdulai Osman Conteh. As the appeals hearings were about to commence, Conteh was also pardoned by President Bio but without compensation. His only benefit was the freedom he got back.
Even the APC publicity secretary, Sidi Yayah Tunis was also detained briefly in a police cell in the southern capital of Bo.
The erstwhile publicity secretary, Cornelius Melvin Deveaux was also chased out by the ruling party. Deveaux now seeks asylum in a West African country without knowing when he would return to his own, Sierra Leone. The list of those trapped is just too long to be explored at a go. A popular argument holds that since SLPP has failed to deliver on their mandate, the only way out is to muzzle the opposition.
