Investigative journalist, Alie Badara, was subjected to a series of threats by unknown individuals following publication of a story he authored that indicted the police.
On May 28, 2024, for example, at approximately at 13:46, Badara received threatening calls from an individual identified as Morles. The unidentified person, who used multiple unregistered SIM cards, verbally abused the journalist’s mother and threatened to burn down his house that night.
Badara says he has received several other threats in the wake of his reports that accused the police in Bo, Southern Sierra Leone, of under-declaring the quantity of drugs they had seized from traffickers. The police had carried out a crackdown on illegal drug trade, seizing large amounts of drugs including tramadol and a synthetic drug known locally as KUSH. However, according to the journalist’s investigative report, the police were dubiously under-declaring the seizures.
Badara’s subsequent Facebook posts criticising the police’s conduct in the fight against drugs has received a robust push-back in the form of insults and threats. The journalist has since reported the incident to the Bo East Police.
Meanwhile, on June 6, 2024, Thomas Dixon, Editor of Salone Times Newspaper, and an outspoken social media commentator received threats and several attacks online, including SMS messages on his mobile phone. The attacks on Dixon, editor of the Salone Times Newspaper, followed his critical comments about the country’s First Lady, Fatima Maada Bio, on Facebook. The journalist had described the First Lady as arrogant, following her recent statement in which she said the first family will no longer need anyone because they are done looking for votes.
Several blogs including the Unity Broadcasting Page on Facebook, a page alleged to be associated with the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and other fake pages, attacked and threatened the journalist.
Dixon has reported the matter to the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), which in a press release dated 6th June 2024, condemned the attacks. It named one Anthony Vandy, who writes on social media as one of the leading perpetrators.
“We are seeing a consistent pattern of fanatic and overzealous political supporters attacking journalists and political commentators whose publications they disagree with. We urge politicians and public officials to admonish their supporters to refrain from such undemocratic and ill-motivated endeavor,” said the President of SLAJ, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla.
The media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) calls on the Sierra Leonean authorities to investigate these threats and bring the perpetrators to book. We also urge them to ensure effective security for the journalists.
