Police belonging to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) have yesterday whisked off the Managing Editor and Proprietor of the Nightwatch Newspaper, Emmanuel ChristianThorli, to the CID and is presently in their custody.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Sesay, who led the arrest team, disclosed that the Managing Editor is wanted by the Head of the Criminal Investigations Department to help them with an article published in the nightwatch newspaper on the 10th January,2019. The articlerelates to over 300 diplomatic passports the Paopa Government has given to family members and relatives.
He was later detained without any questioning, having insisted that he would need legal advice before making statement to the Police.
The Police, according to sources, want him to reveal the source of the article, which is very unconventional in journalism.
It will be recalled that President Julius Maada Bio has, in a cocktail dinner with pressmen, the first in the country, promised to repeal the seditious libel law, which, he noted, is been considered by the Ministry of Justice.
The latest arrest of the Managing Editor, which is the first since the new government came to power, has clearly shown that the new SLPP government is bent on suppressing the press.
The Newspaper has of late been critical of the Bio Government anti-corruption crusade, and the subsequent publication of the diplomatic passport saga has embarrassed the Government further.
The Independent Media Commission, in Sierra Leone, is tasked in dealing with issues related to the ethical conduct of journalists, and the arrest by the Police of a local journalist in the country is tantamount to the Government reneging on its earlier promise to strengthen the Independent Media Commission and also decriminalize the practice of journalism in Sierra Leone.
On Orders From Above… Police Detain Nightwatch Managing Editor
