The Executive Director of the Society for Democratic Initiative (SDI), Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai, said that the Libel Law enshrined in the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone impedes democratic growth.
He made this statement during the launching of the “State of the Media Report 2016” on Thursday. The theme of the Report is: The independence of media enhances democracy and good governance: A call for the repeal of the criminal and seditious libel laws in the 1965 Public Order Act.
This annual report looks at the progress and challenges in the media in Sierra Leone and poses recommendations to government in order to improve the media landscape.Abdulai explained that in many countries where democracy is being practiced they have phased out criminal libel laws to ensure press freedom. Recent publications in the New York Times and the Washington Post are examples of what media freedom should be like. The media is expected to be an instrument of change and should not be looked upon as an opponent but rather as partners in development. Journalists should not be arrested for stories, which they report. As with all professions, journalism have their faults, which should be handled by the IMC.The Executive Director further stated that this year’s report recognised the progress made by the media in terms of development. The concern of his institution is the existence of the criminal and seditious libel laws. He expressed disappointment over the fact that President Koroma had promised to ‘expunge’ the criminal libel laws but the language has now been watered down to read ‘review’. Furthermore, that this law has not been repealed even as the President’s term of office comes to a close. He appealed to His Excellency to keep the promise he made during the campaign period to expunge this law.President of SLAJ, Kelvin Lewis, also expressed concern over the non-repeal of the law by the President. But he is hopeful that it will be addressed before the President leaves office. He informed journalists that after much negotiation and deliberations over the contents of its replacement, a document has been developed and is in the office of the Attorney General for further action. He also spoke about the marginalisation of some media houses in the awarding of adverts from government institutions. Many media houses are given adverts based on their stance with regards to the position of politicians and government. This situation, he went on, should not be allowed to continue as it impacts negatively on the others.Lewis called on the President to repeal and not to review the criminal libel laws. It is this criminalisation of the law that empowers the police to take the actions they take against journalists. The establishment of the IMC is to ensure that the press regulates itself (self-control) and if this law is repealed, all violations will be looked at by the IMC and actions like fines will be imposed on any culprit. Lewis stated that the press does not want to wait for another APC government to repeal the Act but this government of President Koroma should act, especially as he had promised the press that he will do so. He expressed concern over the association of the press with people who are not journalists but are seen as one in the social media. People who post damaging things on the social media are not journalists and they should be looked at as that. He expressed satisfaction over the press release of the ONS, which warned politicians to conduct themselves accordingly. Many such imposters are supporters of politicians and do not know anything about the ethics of journalism, thus they should not be allowed to tarnish the name of such a noble profession, the SLAJ president concluded.
Monday May 22, 2017.