By KABS KANU
Today was another sad day for democracy and human rights in Sierra Leone.
The Sierra Leone Police fired live bullets and teargas at the Brookfields headquarters of the opposition All People’s Congress ( APC ) this morning when supporters gathered there to await the verdictsย of the High Courtย on petitions filed against 16 of their parliamentarians.
MAADA BIO’S POLICE SHOOTING AT THE APC OFFICE WITH LIVE BULLETSย
While the APC HQ remained in a state of siege from the Police, the President Maada Bio junta government turned on citizens it has the primary responsibility to protect under the United Nations Charter and beat, injured and arrested many of themย after twoย Government-backedย High Court judges delivered their verdictsย andย unseated 9 APC parliamentarians in the ruling SLPP’s concertedย andย well-orchestrated agenda to reduce the APC’s majority in Parliament. Before today’s court verdicts, the APC party hadย 63 seats while the SLPP hadย 46 .
THE SMOKE RISES OVER THE APC HEADQUARTERS AS POLICE OPEN FIRE WITH BULLETS AND TEAR GAS. Sad day for Africa. JUNTA RULE IS BACK.
THE POLICE BRUTALIZING A WOMAN OUTSIDE THE APC OFFICE
APC SUPPORTERS ARRESTED BY POLICE
Nineย APCย parliamentarians were unseated today while two seats will go into bye-elections and as it stands now , the SLPPย has 58 seats and the APC 57. SLPPย filedย petitions against 16 APC MPs on grounds ranging from receiving salaries from the Consolidated Fund while contesting for Parliament, rigging and violence.
THE SLPP POLICE ARE SEEN HERE ARRESTING THE APC PUBLICITY SECRETARY CORNELIUS DEVEAUX
Strangely, the APCย had also filed petitions against 33 SLPPย parliamentarians but these cases have never been brought up, deepening suspicions that the corrupt judiciary was supporting the SLPP.
WOMAN INJURED BY POLICE BEATING
Clashes took place between the Police and APCย supporters around the Brookfields vicinity and eyewitnesses posted graphic photos of injured APCย supporters and arrested men and women, one of them whomย needed urgent medical treatment seen wiping himself with a handkerchief soaked with blood.
The question on everybody’s lips was , how the SLPP Government could have called suchย a big National Peace and Cohesion Conference last week, knowing that they will trigger a flawed legal process a week later that will see APCย parliamentarians lost seats . Many people said that the SLPP was just trying to deceive the international community and the people of Sierra Leone .
The violence, brutality against APCย supporters and the human rights and constitutional abuses by the Bio Government are piling up.
Mamu Al Conteh
In Rwanda, Hutus labeled the Tutsis, โcockroachesโ. and that was all supporters of the then Tutsi lead government wanted to hear. Because killing insects was normal and permissible.
Today in Sierra Leone,ย you hear them loudly saying that APC supporters that were brutalized in the party office were zombies. They even accused them of spraying fake blood on themselves to seek attention. Others say, it was the human sacrificing blood they stored in the party office that was used. But I am raising the alarm now. SLPP is dehumanizing our people. They are calling wounded APC supporters vampiresย ๐งโโ๏ธ. Will it not be justifiable to kill vampires? I am calling on all peace loving Sierra Leoneans to do something. Do anything to stop SLPP from killing us. I call on the international community to be proactive. They must not repeat the mistakes made in Rwanda and Bosnia.
