H.E. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
Office of the President
Freetown
Sierra Leone

Fax: (+ 232-22) 230565

Vienna, 2 August 2005

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, strongly condemns the savage beating of For Di People editor Harry Yansaneh, which is said to have caused his death on 27 July 2005.

According to information before IPI, Yansaneh was assaulted by six persons on 10 May, allegedly on the orders of Fatmata Hassan Komeh, a Member of Parliament for the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). In a letter sent to the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) before he died of kidney problems, Yansaneh said he was severely beaten by a group that included Hassan’s two sons, Bai Bureh and Mohamed Komeh, who threatened to kill him and also vandalised the newspaper’s equipment. Although Yansaneh lodged a complaint with the police, we understand that no action has been taken to date.

The motives for this heinous crime appear to be Hassan’s anger over For Di People’s critical coverage of the government and her desire to evict the newspaper from their offices. Hassan is the landlady of the building housing For Di People. Yansaneh took over as acting editor of For Di People in October 2004 after founding editor Paul Kamara was sentenced to two-year prison sentences – to run concurrently – for “seditious libel”.

IPI strongly condemns this lethal attack on press freedom and calls upon the authorities to bring to justice all those responsible for Yansaneh’s death. We also call for the immediate release of Paul Kamara, whose latest appeal for bail was turned down on 25 July, and for an end to the campaign of harassment and intimidation currently being waged against For Di People.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director