By Kadiatu Sankoh
Reports reaching this medium reveal that Mohamed Alpha Jalloh, a Member of the main opposition party (APC), has survived an attack by armed security forces, who stormed his residence over allegations of inciting a protest on the 10th August, 2022.
According to police sources, Jalloh has been on their radar since news of a pending nationwide protest surfaced and the police have been gathering intelligence on his activities. They maintained that during the said protest that turned deadly, claiming the lives of 6 police officers and some 32 civilians, Jalloh is said to have been seen actively participating and giving packets of water to the protesters.
The government in a statement described the protest “unlawful and illegal” after the Sierra Leone Police refused to grant them security protection.
Sierra Leone’s 1991 Constitution guarantees the rights for everyone to hold peaceful protest without seeking approval from any authority says Thomas Pa Ali Babadie, a civil right activist working for Forum for Sierra Leone Youth Network. He added that, ‘’The police is usually informed in order to provide security for protesters but in an event the police could not be able to do that there is no law barring people from holding or organizing a peaceful protest’’Babadie stated.
However, families of Mohamed Alpha Jalloh told this medium that he (Jalloh) was arrested during the protest and kept in police custody for several months, but was released due to insufficient evidence at the time.
Police Spokesman, Superintendent Brima Kamara argued that Mohamed Alpha Jalloh’s residence was raided several times because the police has a case against him.
Kamara dismissed the grounds of defence by Jalloh’s family that even if the police had earlier arrested, detained and release a suspect for lack of evidence , that does not mean the suspect in question should not be brought for questioning. He maintained that in such cases, there could be fresh evidence and if Mohamed Alpha Jalloh is again rearrested the police has committed no crime, Kamara maintained.
However, family sources spoken to expressed frustration over the harassment and illegal detention of Jalloh by the police. They made mentioned of torture and detention in the most inhumane conditions. They furthered that after his release by the police, his life became a living hell, as he was hounded by ruling party operatives with death threats.
Few days after the incident, APC National Executive summoned an emergency press conference to update the public and the international community about the party’s position in relation to intimidation, harassment and detention of it supporters surrounding the August 10 protest.
At the Party’s National Head Quarters in Freetown, the police together with Armed security forces stormed the jam-packed building and ordered that the conference be discontinued. There was heaving firing of teargas and live bullets into the building, with dozens of APC supporters suffered severe injuries. Journalists who also went to covered the conference were manhandled and tortured by security forces.
They furthered that things took a different turn when known young loyalists of the main opposition party were being targeted, some of them shot at point blank range across the country. Security forces were seen firing live bullets indiscriminately at the party office in order to arrest suspected protesters who were allegedly identified by supporters of the ruling SLPP Government.