SIERRA LEONE: CPJ calls for justice in case of killed journalist

New York, July 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists today made the following statement on the eve of the first anniversary of the death of journalist Harry Yansaneh, former editor of the independent newspaper For Di People.

“It is outrageous that one year after our colleague’s death, the state appears to have dropped this case. An official judicial inquest found that Yansaneh died as the result of a brutal beating, and a ruling party parliamentarian was implicated in the crime,” said CPJ’s Africa Program Coordinator Julia Crawford. “A serious attack on a journalist should not be allowed to go unpunished, especially if it contributed to his death.”