By Umaru Fofana
I still cannot come to terms with the fact that a journalist – or any other citizen for that matter – can be arrested at the say-so of the president of a country that claims to be democratic without clearly-stated reasons – state of emergency or not. Then such an arrest is not given the backing of a court of competent jurisdiction even if it is days after the person was picked up. This is more worrisome when such an arrest can be otherwise made using an existing law however obnoxious the law may be.
The criminal defamation law – probably criminal in itself because it criminalises a fundamental right namely free speech – allows the police to arrest anyone, anyhow and at any time. So I wonder whether the president needed to have signed an Executive Detention Order in the first place to arrest David Tam-Baryoh. Not only does this make Baron de Montesquieu quake in his grave over what his principle of Separation of Powers means – never mind the exemptions we know about – but such an action also puts the president in an awkward position and besmirches his reputation and with it Sierra Leone’s. I wonder who advised him to do such.
Equally concerning is that the journalist, with talk that there is evidence galore as to what he may or may not have done, was not charged and later taken to the central prison if in the views of the magistrate the offence was very grave that he would not be granted a bail bond. Rather he was extracted from his police cell and taken to the maximum security prison without charge.
Or in these days of global terrorism, is he being alleged to have links with Al Shabaab or Al Qaeda or ISIS or Islamic State. Definitely not, according to a statement issued by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice which makes reference to a reference the detained journalist allegedly made on his radio programme to recent events in Burkina Faso and some alleged statements deemed inciting relative to the Ebola fight. That is for the appropriate institutions to deal with.
But this whole conundrum exposes the ramifications in the delay in appointing people to institutions that must not be allowed to become vacant, nonoperational or even inoperable. The Independent Media Commission, which regulates the media, was allowed to go without commissioners even though it was known that the mandate of the now former board members would be up and SLAJ – which should advice the president on appointments – had done so long in advance.
If the IMC had been in place and it was respected – because that is a different story altogether – this would have been avoided. Or would it? I wonder because Tam-Baryoh’s radio programme was knocked off the air in July on the orders of the country’s cabinet as dictated to the IMC who duly obliged. And for all you may say about him, unlike some other media players, Tam-Baryoh always complied with IMC summons and sanctions.
Sierra Leone is getting to a stage where the kibosh is being put on press freedom if not already. The Ebola era seems to have instilled fear in the spine of many journalists. First there have been threats by local authorities to close down a radio station in Lunsar – and they nearly carried that out. Then there was the locking-up of a radio station manager in Makeni. And then there was the summoning by parliament of a station manager in Kenema. All because they said one thing or another deemed critical of some state authority in the fight against a disease which is what should preoccupy all our minds and not the distraction over the arrest of a journalist.
If anything Tam-Baryoh’s arrest and detention can only be said to have made him into a corps célèbre. Show me any professional in Sierra Leone whose name resonates across the country as much as I can show you at least five journalists whose names do. This can only add to Tam’s – rightly or wrongly.
In the early 2000s the role of the independent media in being critical by pointing out the shortcomings of the South African government in the fight against HIV/AIDS helped a lot in that fight. But as things stand now in Sierra Leone every media house and practitioner will be forgiven for feeling the presence of Damocles over their heads. So much so that critical reporting which could save many lives from the catastrophe that Ebola is would go unreported and the lives would be lost.
This was exactly the same way we dropped the ball as journalists by not scrutinising the free health care for mothers and babies instead we kept saying rosy things until Ebola exposed the empty shell nature of our health care delivery system – with all respect due the non-user-fee system and the health workers who worked hard to save mothers and babies.
The merits and demerits of Tam-Baryoh’s case will long be discussed in various quarters and for various reasons and in various ways. But what will not be taken away from it by conscionable people is this: Like Jonathan Leigh and Bai Bai Sesay whose backs were broken obviously forcing them to apologise apparently against their consciences, I would not be the least surprised if Tam-Baryoh came out today and cussed – or even cursed - himself for his offending broadcast.
Whoever thinks they can have the media their way by instilling fear in them is making a grave mistake. Tony Blair would tell you how to court the media without using the courts against them. Ibrahim Babangida would tell you how to do so. Even though he had his unintelligent moments with journalists as well. And the former Ghanaian president John Kuffour would tell you that you can appoint as many journalists into your government as you wish you were not assured of your epitaph being written at your say-so.
We are what we are for a reason. And I keep saying it that our leaders are where they are today because of the sacrifices we made to resist dictatorship – military and civilian. Chernor Ojuku Sesay and Paul Kamara – perhaps more than any other journalist in political position today - are living witnesses to that sacrifice.
The role journalists – especially in the broadcast world – play today in the fight against Ebola is immeasurable. If anyone of them goes overboard – and I am not saying Tam-Baryoh did as that is up to him to say or the courts to be allowed to prove him as such – one would expect rapprochement. We cannot all be jailed or killed. No! Some will stay alive and outside to keep the course. If a journalist has gone overboard let the due process be followed. Allow the police, allow the courts instead of this puritanical high-we-exalt-thee approach we seem to have adopted towards our leaders.
Let there not be presidential involvement which in the end will end up making the president feel like a demigod. Someone must apologise to him before anything happens. Exactly what Tejan Kabbah – may his soul rest in perfect peace – tried with Paul Kamara but failed. Did it change Paul’s destiny? Journalism will always be what journalists what it to be – give some money and favours and compromise them but others will stand tall. After all if you do not stand up for something you will lie down for anything. Tam-Baryoh shall be free.
© Politico 11/11/14
