…SLAJ Secretary General
The Secretary General of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), Mr. Edward Farah Marah, has condemned in the strongest terms the growing attacks on journalists both online and in mainstream media, describing them as a direct threat to democracy in Sierra Leone.
Speaking during his recent engagements with journalists and media stakeholders, Mr. Marah warned that when journalists are harassed, threatened or silenced, it is not just the media that suffers; it is democracy itself that suffers.
“Media is the lifeblood of democracy. Without a free media, democracy is just a word on paper,” Mr. Marah said.
He said attacks on journalists – whether through online harassment, smear campaigns, threats, intimidation or physical assaults are designed to frighten journalists into silence and to deny the public their right to know.
Any attack on journalists is an attack on democracy itself,” he stressed.
Mr. Marah outlined several ways in which the media sustains and strengthens democracy:
He said democracy means the people decide. But how can people decide if they don’t know the facts? The media gives voters information about candidates, manifestos, policies, and government performance. An informed voter is a powerful voter. An uninformed voter is easily fooled, and in a democracy, power belongs to the people, not to politicians. The media acts as a watchdog. When a minister steals, when an MP fails to deliver, when a council misuses funds – it is the media that exposes it, asks the hard questions, and forces leaders to answer. Without that, leaders become kings, he added.
Mr. Marah called on the government, political parties, security forces, bloggers and the general public to respect and protect journalists, and to allow them to work without fear or intimidation.
He said journalists must be free to criticise, to investigate and to report, even when their reports are uncomfortable to those in power.
“Media makes democracy work by making sure the people KNOW, the leaders ANSWER, and the truth WINS,” he said.
He reaffirmed SLAJ’s commitment to defend journalists across the country and to continue to advocate for press freedom, the safety of journalists, and a media environment where truth can thrive.