Former Presidential Spokesman based in Canada has warned President Julius Maada Bio about abusing people’s rights, mass killings and election rigging saying the law is no respecter of persons.
Abdulai Baraytay’s warning comes at a time an invitation letter has been issued to President Julius Maada Bio by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in respect of crimes committed between 2018 and 2023. He issued the warning during an online media interview reminding of the supremacy of the law.
“Bio must respect people’s rights as well as the laws of the land in the interest of peace and national security,” Bayraytay reiterated his caution to the President.
Bayraytay was Coordinator in the Office of Government Spokesman in the then government of President Ernest Bai Koroma before he took up appointment of Presidential Spokesman.
He is among several politicians who ran away from state-sponsored violence embarked on by the Bio regime immediately after 2018 elections. The former Spokesman made reference to African leaders who have been humbled in international tribunals for human rights abuses and crimes against humanity in their countries.
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Umar Al-Bashir of Sudan were Bayratay’s bright examples from whom he expects Bio to lend a leaf.
The ex-Liberian President was roped in by the defunct Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) for aiding and abetting the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone between 1991 and 2002.
SCSL’s Chief Prosecutor alleged that Taylor bought diamonds from RUF (Revolutionary United Front) fighters for whom he procured arms and ammunition to prosecute a war which left thousands dead and displaced.
Taylpr who is currently serving a 52-year jail term was held individually criminally responsible for the crimes of mass killings, genocide, looting, pillage, sexual slavery, arson among others.
Gaddafi was also trapped in a similar dance of destiny during the 2011 revolution known as the Arab spring. Gaddafi was not arraigned but fell in the hands of armed fighters who he would have crushed if he was not restrained by NATO (Northern Atlantic Treaty Organisation).
Like Taylor did against Liberians, Gaddafi waged a campaign of terror against Libyans who he allegedly killed in large numbers although he tremendously improved living standards there.
The Libyan leader turned down the call to step aside owing to a personality cult which he had carved for himself for too long while he was in power. The aura of power also deceived him in no small measure into going against the West and the United States.
Gaddafi subsequently paid a costly price when he was butchered by fellow Libyans in his own country. Upon taking over state command in 1967, Gaddafi nationalised privately owned French oil companies, an act for which he was never forgiven by France.
The Libyan leader was also accused of sponsoring the 1978 Irish war in which hundreds of lives were lost. The former Libyan leader was also believed to have incited the Lockorbie bombing in mid 1980s which also greatly annoyed the Brits.
These were crimes for which the law of Karma caught up with the Libyan leader over a decade ago when the Libyans took up arms against him.
Ex-Sudanese President, Umar Al-Bashir is also in custody after he was picked up few years back by his own guards who were supposed to protect him. The fallen leaders, according to Bayraytay, are shining examples from whom Bio could learn many lessons if he is to keep his head above waters.
He went the fallen African Presidents are militarily stronger than Sierra Leone, but the people’s power brings them down. “They have military jets and other spacecrafts but they fell while Sierra Leone had none of those weapons.” He reminded Bio.
Respect for democracy and rule of law goes beyond having white elephant institutions such as the courts and Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) which do not live up to their expectations.
ECSL allegedly openly stole the will of Sierra Leoneans by declaring incumbent President Bio winner of June elections, a move that created a boycott of Sierra Leone’s governance system.
APC parliamentarians, Mayors, chairmen and councillors have refused to take their seats until the real results are published. The elected officials have also snubbed the court owing to fear that they would not get justice there. The fear factor is supported by several instances of sham trials and proceedings in which APC has been at the wrong end.
At the moment, Bayraytay does not recognise Bio’s government which he refers to as de facto and not de jure. In a de facto situation, government exists only by common consent while in a de Jure, a President is President because he enjoys the will of the majority. The President must come to power through accepted means which is expressed in the ballot box in June 24, this year as is done in any democratic state.
Any means other than that provided by the law is a travesty and recipe for chaos, and President Bio, at the moment, is in a quagmire as the ICC intends to investigate him.