Calls for release of Sierra Leonean singer jailed in ‘crackdown on free speech’

Zainab Sheriff arriving at court. The model and musician was repeatedly denied bail and is being held in a maximum-security prison in Freetown. Photograph: Courtesy of Sierraloaded

“We have seen people who have said far worse than what she said and they were either not prosecuted or were given a very low term,” Hughes said. “I see [Sheriff’s case] as sending a message to people that you can’t get up one day and say x, y and z, which is a person’s legal right.”

She added: “It’s a laughing issue, but we’ve seen the trend where the law is being utilised as a weapon against people who speak up.”

Sheriff’s sentence comes a year after Hawa Hunt, a social media influencer, was arrested on live television for posts she made about Sierra Leone’s president, Julius Maada Bio, and the first lady, Fatima Bio, in May 2023. She was detained for two months.

In March 2023, five UN experts wrote to President Bio about the detention and treatment of more than 40 people, predominately women, by the authorities on 4 July 2022 for protesting about increased living costs and the government’s handling of the economy.

Sierra Leone’s president, Julius Maada Bio, pictured with his wife, Fatima, speaks to journalists after voting in 2023’s national elections Photograph: Cooper Inveen/Reuters

Hughes said the case had chilling implications. “As women, we are placed in a certain category where you can only say certain things,” she said. “The moment you say words which appear to be a bit strong, you are considered to be violating some sort of rule or law, and acting against your own gender.”

In a recent interview, Nemata Majeks Walker, a prominent women’s rights activists and founder of the 50/50 Group, spoke out about the climate for women in Sierra Leone, saying repeatedly that she was “scared”.

“It is sad that women’s voices are being oppressed, but women will continue to speak up,” she said. “They will be guarded but they will continue to speak. It will be difficult to speak the truth because you are scared, but we will continue to express that we have a right to take part in politics, we have a right to hold positions of power.”

Aki-Sawyerr added: “It is scary the way the laws are being used. That’s why we have to keep speaking up. We can’t just ignore what I would say is the transformation of our democracy into an authoritarian state.”