Libel law overturned

In most countries, libel or defamation is a civil rather than criminal offence. However, in Sierra Leone, libel has been punishable by a prison sentence since 1965. The Mail & Guardian reports that this law has been used to limit the freedoms of speech and expression in the country, and has provoked major discord between governments, journalists and human rights activists over the decades. However, in a major breakthrough, Parliament last month repealed the criminal libel law – making good a promise that President Maada Bio made on the campaign trail prior to his 2018 election. ‘The repeal of this law removed the chilling effect. Journalists have always been chilled or muzzled for the fear of going to jail if they picked up a story against a powerful politician,’ said Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai, the head of Society for Democratic Initiative, a civil society organisation who has been campaigning for the law to be overturned. He added that the development is ‘very huge for journalism’.