Sierra Leonean journalist Paul Kamara was freed from jail this week after a court upheld his appeal against his conviction for defaming the government.
Mr. Kamara is the publisher and managing editor of the independent newspaper For Di People. In October 2004 he was convicted on two counts of seditious libel. The charges were based on a series of articles published in his newspaper alleging that Sierra Leone’s president, Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, was “unfit” to hold office.
Mr. Kamara told Enlish to Africa’s Ruby Ofori he does not regret publishing the articles. He said, “Why should you regret when you are in the right…it shows that you have to plod on, that if you believe in something you stick to it.”
Mr. Kamara says he will return to work as soon as his health improves. International organizations such as the Media Foundation for West Africa and the Committee to Protect Journalists campaigned for Mr. Kamara’s release and have called for the speedy repeal of Sierra Leone’s seditious libel laws.