An interview with Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai, Barrister, Solicitor at Law, and Executive Director, Society for Democratic Initiatives, (SDI), Sierra Leone.

Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai has been a media lawyer in Freetown, Sierra Leone, for the past six years, providing pro bono legal aid to journalists who come into conflict with criminal and seditious libel, false news provision and insult laws. As part of his work he has challenged the constitutionality of criminal and seditious libel law in front of the Supreme Court in Sierra Leone. The Court ruled against him in 2009, but he will be taking his case to the court of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria, as soon as modalities are put in place.

Mr Abdulai is also part of the West African Media Defenders Network that works towards media law reform and specifically the decriminalisation of libel laws, as well as the provision of legal aid for journalists in the region. The Media Defenders network is coordinated by the Media Foundation for West Africa in Accra, Ghana, and has so far taken two media related cases to the West African Court.

WAN-IFRA: Could you provide us with an overview of the legal situation regarding the media in Sierra Leone and any specific problems facing the independent press?

Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai: Over the years the media in Sierra Leone has gone through as much metamorphosis as it has been confronted by challenges. One of these challenges is the obnoxious 1965 Public Order Act that criminalises seditious and defamatory libel. The Act serves as a hindrance to a free press in Sierra Leone, especially when combined with the reluctance of government to enact the Freedom of Information bill and also the lack of adequate capacity among media practitioners. Despite improvements that have been made with regards to professional standards of journalists and the promise of ensuring a free and pluralistic press by the current government, there is still more to be done. The quality of daily media output remains below average and unprofessional yellow journalism is rampant. Reporters are by and large high school dropouts and operate in conditions of service that are very low. Media owners are more interested in profit margins than in upholding professionalism.

There is a high rate of unemployment in the country and as a result most journalists are untrained and unqualified; they develop interest in the job as a means of survival. The media industry is unattractive as the profession is associated with poverty, largely due to the lack of technical and financial support from the government and donor institutions. Graduates with a degree in journalism often take to public relations, development or social work, abandoning the field to unqualified school leavers who are grossly underpaid by their editors.

WAN-IFRA: How rigorously is criminal and seditious libel law applied? Is there any dialogue at all with the authorities or discussion at government level as to how the law should be applied?

Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai: There are numerous campaigns running in Sierra Leone for the repeal of criminal and seditious libel laws. Recently, the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, supported by the Society for Democratic Initiatives (SDI), filed a constitutional challenge in the Supreme Court asking for a declaration that would label criminal and seditious libel laws unconstitutional. The Supreme Court refused these calls. SDI is in the process of drafting a civil libel law that will be used as an alternative to the present law, since one of the government’s main arguments has focused on just what to replace criminal libel laws with. The Association of Journalists has also engaged the government at various levels but the authorities continue to maintain their position, arguing that the Public Order Act that criminalises seditious and defamatory libel is not meant exclusively for journalists but that it applies to every peaceful citizen in the country. However, the law has levied long jail terms and heavy fines on journalists as a way of stifling a free press.

A clear example would be the case of Paul Kamara, a veteran journalist from the For Di People newspaper, who has on several occasions been given long jail sentences under seditious and defamatory libel laws. Another example would be the late Bunting Davies of the New Shaft newspaper, who was sent to prison several times during the one party era of the APC government. Very recently, a civil society network called National Elections Watch had its top executive members - Ngolo Katta, Frances Fortune and James Lahai - slammed with criminal defamation charges.

SDI is putting together a brief to ask the ECOWAS Court for a declaration. This requires a lot of support and the mobilisation of human, financial and media resources to take up such a big task.

WAN-IFRA: Have you seen an increase in cases of journalists coming to you for assistance in relation to libel and defamation issues? Can you share any general details from any specific cases?

Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai: SDI has represented a couple of journalists in court under the criminal libel laws. However, since the creation of a regulatory mechanism in the form of the Independent Media Commission (IMC), most media violations concerning criminal libel laws end up there. The Commission has no requirement for a lawyer to be present and most litigants prefer to use this avenue. The IMC levies fines and sometimes suspends journalists from practice, or calls for a retraction or an apology. However, it leaves one to wonder why it is the practice not to permit lawyers. Statistics from the IMC itself indicate that there are many complaints lodged against media practitioners.

WAN-IFRA: How does the West African Media Defenders Network operate and what sort of an impact or influence it can have at regional level.

Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai: The West African Media Defenders Network (WAMDN) is a network of lawyers from the West Africa region and is coordinated by the Media Foundation for West Africa based in Accra, Ghana. The Network brings together a group of lawyers to discuss issues relating to media law in West Africa in general, but also in specific countries. Lawyers from every country make up the network. Part of what it does is to support media lawyers when they take up pro bono legal aid cases in each country where there are violations.

It also convenes a yearly meeting to assess media law developments and to strategise new ways of tackling the problems. It has been very effective in providing gratis legal services to media practitioners all over the region. It also commissions research and country specific publications. For instance, I have just finished a report on media laws in Sierra Leone that I am putting into a book that will be published by the network. Additionally, the network has taken a couple of cases to the ECOWAS court directly, especially cases coming out of the Gambia.

WAN-IFRA: What is the West African Court’s position on criminal libel and defamation?

Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai: The West Africa Court has not ruled on criminal libel law yet, primarily because they have not been asked to do so. This is what SDI hopes to do over the coming months and then the court’s position will be clearly established. However, recent decisions from the court show they are pro- human rights as the judges have ruled favourably in cases against the Gambia, one of Africa’s worst suppressors of freedom of expression. And the ECOWAS Court has declared itself a court of first instance. Further, they have ruled that NGOs and any interested party in a human rights case can bring the matter to the Court. It has removed the huge issues of ‘standing’ that in the past has meant one has to have a ‘live’ case or a victim of a specific violation. It has also stated that parties to a suit need not have exhausted domestic remedies. All these are opening up the Court to hear as many human rights cases, including freedom of expression, as possible.

WAN-IFRA: In your experience, what are the key challenges to implementing real change when it comes to libel and defamation laws in Sierra Leone? Can the same be said for West Africa in general?

Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai: Some of the key challenges to implementing real change when it comes to libel and defamation laws in Sierra Leone are corruption and un-patriotism amongst public officials who perceive journalists as enemies. This is often because journalists expose the corrupt practices of not only public officials, but also those in power. The ‘skeletons in the cupboards’ of politicians undermine any effort to change the law. Public officials who use their office to amass wealth at the detriment of the masses would not want anyone to ask questions on how public funds are expended, but this is exactly what journalists do.

Advocacy towards the repeal of criminal libel law has also been disjointed and not sustained. After the Supreme Court decisions it was necessary to sustain the campaign and move on to the next stage, but both donors and local partners just abandoned the campaign. The government should also enact the Freedom of Information bill to allow citizens to monitor the activities of those in authority to enhance transparency and accountability all round.