EXECUTIVE officers of the Sierra Leone Bar Association have said that last week’s rumpus at the Law Courts Building in Freetown was sparked by lawless behaviour by some members which provoked the intervention of the Sierra Leone Police.
Talking to a local radio this morning, one of the officers of the Bar Association said that they assembled at the building to discuss the Ebola issue and the matter of the dismissal of the former Vice-President , Mr. Samuel Sam-Sumana. While the meeting was going on, the arrival of what one of them described as “Politician lawyers , ” who came with placards that they wanted to paste around, changed the complete temperature of the meeting.
A disagreement occurred between them and some executive members who advised against pasting the placards when the SLBA had not yet discussed anything substantial about the issue involving the former VP. The meeting turned into a fiasco and the placard -holders streamed outside. It was at this point that Police arrived to quell the confusion.
A spokesman for the Police said that the lawyers did not also get a permit to stage the meeting .
Executive officers of the Bar Association did not sanction the press statement that has been circulated throughout the social media , signed by Pa Momoh Fofana , and purported to have been released by SLBA. Social media practitioners have already condemned the Pa Momoh Fofana faction for impersonating the SLBA.
SLBA will be meeting again tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists ( SLAJ ) , Mr. Kevin Lewis, has reiterated his call to media practitioners to remain neutral in the issue of the sacked VP . Speaking to Radio Democracy 98.1 this morning, Mr. Lewis appealed to judges of the Supreme Court not to delay to render a verdict on the VP issue to avoid rising tensions that may affect the peace. He also said that the Supreme Court must consider the ramification of their verdict on the nation, in terms of the constitution and democracy .
