8 August 2012
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns an attack on two journalists by soldiers in Sierra Leone and calls on authorities to investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Soldiers in uniform attacked Poindexter Sama, senior reporter, and Alie Turay, graphic designer, both of the daily Awoko Newspaper, as the journalists photographed the troops passing the newspaper’s offices in Freetown, the capital, the paper reported on August 3.
The soldiers kicked and hit Sama with their guns even though he had identified himself as a reporter, he told CPJ. The journalist said he suffered a swollen face, blistered lips, and bruises, while Turay’s shirt was torn.
The soldiers also confiscated their mobile phones and two memory sticks, as well as a camera battery that belonged to the paper, the journalist said.