Jailed Sierra Leonean journalist Paul Kamara has been moved to solitary confinement. Following reports that he has been threatened with violence by army officers, his wife has expressed fears for his life. (28-FEB-05)
Kamara, the founder and editor of the daily For Di People , was dragged from his cell after 8.00 pm on 22 February, according to reports. His wife, Isatu Kamara, was told the guards attempted to drag him to a block in the prison notorious as the spot where former rebel leader Foday Sankoh died of a stroke. The area is normally reserved for the most dangerous prisoners.
“He [Kamara] refused to budge but the officers were said to have promised to come back”, Isatu said. “I believe this is an attempt by the prison authorities, through the directives of the powers that be, to silence him forever”.
Kamara was jailed for two years on 5 October 2004 after being charged with a ‘seditious libel’ against President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. He had re-published a 1967 inquiry into fraud at a government department where Kabbah was then a senior civil servant.
Paul Kamara has been nominated for the Index on Censorship / The Guardian – Hugo Young Award for Journalism. This award, to be announced on 1 March, goes to a journalist who has shown an outstanding commitment to journalistic integrity in defence of freedom of expression.
