THE STATE OF THE PRESS AND JOURNALISTS DURING JUNTA RULE - FROM THE SIERRA LEONE WEB

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15 July: The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) said Tuesday its members have been subject to unprecedented harassment and intimidation since the May 25 coup. The Association called upon the AFRC to release three journalists detained during the military's search for a clandestine radio station, or to turn them over to the civilian police. "We are very concerned that in the seven weeks since the AFRC took power our members have been exposed to a degree of harassment and threats from military authorities which far exceed anything ever seen in this country," the SLAJ said in a statement. "If the military authorities consider these three persons to be guilty of the offence it is their duty to hand the matter over to the police for the appropriate action to be taken," it added. The Association named the three as Saloman Conteh, Fatmata Kamara, and Jeff Bowlay Williams, arrested July 8 at the offices of The Democrat newspaper. Four other persons detained at the time were released after four days.

Military leaders arrested and briefly detained a BBC reporter at Pademba Road Prison Monday. BBC Freetown correspondent Victor Sylver was arrested by four soldiers on the orders of PLO 1 Staff Sergeant Abu Sankoh, a member of the AFRC Supreme Council, who complained that Sylver was "sending out all sorts of bad reports" about the AFRC. After being taken to the prison and assigned to one of the prison blocks, he was led out again and taken to Sankoh's home. Sankoh complained "among other things that I had not been carrying reports in favour of the AFRC, that I do not refer to the head of state, Major Johnny Paul Koroma, in my reports as His Excellency, and a host of other allegations. I of course explained certain things to him, stressing that should any one of them feel aggrieved about my reports, I am always available for comments and corrections." Sylver said he had not been ill-treated. "The soldiers and the PLO were polite and never threatened me. It was only very much later that I discovered that certain individuals had had sleepless nights wanting to see me behind bars."

26 July: The president of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists has gone into hiding after soldiers raided the office of his newspaper on Saturday and detained four journalists. Colleagues said Frank Kposowa went into hiding after soldiers twice visited his office looking for him. Kposowa's independent Unity Now newspaper has been critical of the military government, and in its latest edition called for the immediate departure of the AFRC and criticized Chief Justice Samuel Beccles Davies for swearing in AFRC leader Major Johnny Paul Koroma as head of state. Two of the four detained were journalists working for Sierra Leone News Agency who were at the newspaper office when it was raided. The other two were members of the Unity Now staff.

28 July: Two more journalists critical of the military coup have gone into hiding after a crackdown by police and soldiers against their newspaper, the New Tablet. Managing Editor Gibril Foday Musa and journalist Emmanuel Senessie went into hiding Monday after three newspaper sellers were arrested and the latest edition of the paper was confiscated. The New Tablet has called upon the military leaders to step down, calling the AFRC regime illegal. The newspaper also dismissed a weekend announcement on SLBS (state radio) that the newspaper is not registered as "an attempt by a group of bullies to intimidate us into fear and silence."

22 August: Two independent bi-weekly newspapers, the Standard Times and the Vision, announced Friday they were suspending publication immediately "due to insecurity." The two are the latest on a number of newspapers forced to close since the May 25 coup, including the Punch, For Di People, the Democrat, New Tablet, Freedom Now, Unity Now, and The Sierra Leonean. The editors cited "harassment by security officials as the cause of their decision to close down. Standard Times editor Philip Neville said, "I decided to suspend publication because I was virtually haunted by fierce looking men at night. They will knock on my door and smear paint on my windows." Neville was beaten up by uniformed men three days after the coup. So far no one has been charged.

Other journalists who have been harassed or detained by the military include Unity Now editor Frank Kposowa, Voice of America correspondent Kelvin Lewis, and BBC correspondent Victor Sylver.

Of the 52 newspapers operating under the civilian government, only eight continue to publish. They include the government-owned Daily Mail and Expo Times, both with strong times to the AFRC; Concord Times, the Point, The Pool, Torchlight, Herald Guardian, and We Yone. Commissioner for Information and Broadcasting Sedu Turay said the editors are blaming the government for their own shortcomings. Journalists should keep in mind that they are responsible for what they are reporting, he said.