On February 11, members of the town youth association in Kabala, in Koinadugu District, besieged the premises of Radio Bintumani and forced the community station off the air. The youths evicted the station's staff and demanded the dismissal of Station Manager Jorgoh Barrie, whom they accused of inciting ethnic hatred within the Koinadugu community. No official charges were brought against Barrie, and the station resumed operations the following day.

In late June, the editor of The Standard Times, Philip Neville, was arrested and held in the capital, Freetown, for five days on libel charges. Authorities dropped the charges after the paper retracted a June 27 article that claimed the government did not publicly disclose gifts from Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qaddafi.

Postelection violence erupted in September as youth supporters of the victorious All People's Congress (APC) party attacked the house of Radio Gbaft journalist Hassan Wai Koroma, according to the director of community radio stations, David Tam-Baryoh. Wai spent one night in protective police custody. APC supporters had accused him of bias in covering a relative who unsuccessfully sought office.

Disclaimer: © Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ.

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.