Do the words of politicians carry more weight than the legal system and the rule of law in Sierra Leone ?
The Law Society and some citizens are asking this question following reports that the Sierra Leone First Lady, Mrs. Fatima Bio, has had social media activist Hawa Hunt released from jail where she has been languishing after being arrested and charged with allegedly committing an offence contrary to Sierra Leone’s cybersecurity laws.
Though everybody is delighted that Hawa Hunt has been released, why did it have to take the bulldozing of the first lady to have her freed ?
Many Sierra Leoneans contend that there was no merit in the case in a democratic society and Hawa Hunt was not supposed to have been arrested in the first place. According to reports, the order to arrest her came from above and it was rumored that the very First Lady who ordered her release orchestrated the arrest. Was that the teason that Vickie Remoe, a notable female journalist expressed the fears below in her Facebook post that if one person’s plea can lead to a release from jail, one person’s demand can also lead to an arrest ? It sounds logical.
This Hawa Hunt issue serves as another pointer that there is a serious problem with the judiciary system in Sierra Leone.
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