Journalists who went to State House to cover a meeting between President Ernest Bai Koroma and members of the opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) were violently intercepted by State House security personnel yesterday.The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) Secretariat immediately released a statement following the incident, denouncing the police brutality directed at the journalists.“Reports spoke of the merciless beating of journalists, many of who sustained severe injuries,” the statement read. “Others had their reporting equipment (cameras, recorders, etc.) forcefully taken away from them and destroyed in the most ruthless manner.”Seven journalists were reported to have faced police hostility: Edie Tayo G. Temple of For Di People Newspaper; Miss Alimah Fofanah of The Exclusive Newspaper; Michael Kargbo of Galaxy Radio; Umaru Sitta Turay of Awareness Times Newspaper; Boima J. Boima of The Pool Newspaper; Ola Tungie Yaskey of SKYY Radio; and Sheikh Bawoh of New Vision Newspaper.Reasons for the violent response by security personnel are still unknown.“SLAJ wishes it to be known that journalists are neither state criminals nor thugs of any political group that they should deserve such treatment,” the statement read.The Secretariat called on police to “take full responsibility of their action,” and if the trend of police violence against journalists continues without corrective measures, “the association (SLAJ) will have no alternative but to declare a news blackout on all police activities in the country.”SLAJwas particularly critical of the ruling APC government, stating, “It is particularly worthy to note that since the inception of the new APC government, SLAJ has been able to document a number of cases whereby the Sierra Leone Police deliberately and physically assaulted journalists while carrying out their professional duties.”
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