By Betty Milton.
Before taking over the mantle of leadership in April 2018, President Dr. Julius Maada Bio made a very surprising manifesto promise in the area of media reform and support.
In the New Direction manifesto, it is stated, among many other promises, that “the SLPP administration will reform the Fourth Estate through the following; Repeal the seditious libel law; Review and enact the Freedom of Information Bill, and Enact policies and laws to develop the capacity of journalists”.
With the 55-year-old Criminal Libel law hanging over the heads of journalists, members of the Fourth Estate were barred from reporting stories that are linked with politicians, hindering freedom of speech as guaranteed in Section 25 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone and other international protocols, including Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 9 of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights.
In 2010, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights adopted a resolution in which it specifically addressed the issue of Criminal Libel and defamation. The resolution urged African Union Member States to take all possible steps in repealing their libel laws, stating further that criminal defamation laws constitute a serious interference with freedom of expression.
The repeal of Part 5 of the Public Order Act (1968) has been a thorny issue for successive governments because they used it as a peg on journalist, repressing them (journalists) while performing their role as watchdog of society.
In his Book titled No Place in the Law: the Ignominy of Criminal Libel In American Jurisprudence, Gregory C. Lisby says, “the application of the Sullivan standard to the crime of libel was a mistake. There is no common law affiliation with or legal justification for the existence of criminal libel in a democracy. Its existence is antithetical to the First Amendment’s guarantees of equality of speech as well as the broader constitutional guarantees of equality of speaker.
And so, in the face of cynicism, the Criminal Libel Law was repealed by President Bio, who amidst hazy clouds of media defamation and crucifixion, appended his signature to forge a new dawn for media freedom in Sierra Leone, as was stated in his manifesto promise.
In its just-concluded Diamond Jubilee Celebration, the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) awarded His Excellency Dr. Julius Maada Bio as Champion of Press Freedom. It did not come as a surprise to many that, for the first time in Sierra Leone’s history, and in particular the media industry, such an honour was bestowed on a sitting president.
The President of SLAJ, Ahmed Sahid Nassralla, said the Criminal Libel law was one that “shackled the Sierra Leone media and journalists for 55 odd years”, and that all Presidents that the country has had, have jailed journalists “but none had the courage or bravery to repeal the criminal libel law, but you did!”
The criminal Libel law, according to the SLAJ President, “was used 99% by successive governments and politicians to cow the media, intimidate and incarcerate journalists to escape being held accountable and clamp down on dissenting views”.
As a mantra for “Tok & Do”, President Bio believes that repealing the Criminal Libel Law is important because “it was already a commitment I made in my manifesto. But I think, I would like to thank you for thinking about that, because many governments had an opportunity to do it. But they did not have the strength of mind to take on certain sorts of challenges. Of course, there were critical views within my own government and elsewhere”.
“I am never afraid of dissenting views. And maybe that is one of the reasons why I was never afraid to really take on this challenge. And as a matter of fact, everybody is a journalist in the world now with the new media. So that is why we talk about responsible and professional journalists, who can take critical views, synthesise them and make them useful for public consumption, rather than just commenting or stating what a lot of us do today on social media.”
In sum, expunging the Criminal Libel law from our law books will pave the way for media emancipation, create a level platform for public accountability and open the space for the media to grow, stimulating opportunities for investment in the media landscape.
It is without a doubt that, for centuries hence, His Excellency Dr Julius Maada Bio will be praised as the lid lifter for media emancipation-a true Champion of Press Freedom.
Kudos to the Champion, President Bio
