FEBRUARY 11, 2005
Posted: February 16, 2005
Olu Gordon, The Peep
IMPRISONED
Gordon, editor of the semiweekly satirical newspaper The Peep, was summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), where he was held in connection with an article that appeared in The Peep that day, according to local journalists.
The article questioned why Marine Minister Ibrahim Okere Adams, indicted by an anticorruption commission, had not been fired, whereas two other indicted ministers had been dismissed promptly. The report said that Okere was seen as President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah’s “most reliable northern ally” in the run-up to presidential elections scheduled for 2007.
The article came in response to a press release from the presidential office defending the decision to retain Okere. “The release is seen as a personal endorsement by Kabbah of the most corrupt ministers of his Cabinet,” wrote The Peep.
Gordon told CPJ he was held for three days and charged with seditious libel, a criminal offense. However, just before he was due to appear in court, he was taken to the attorney general’s office and informed that charges were being dropped.
Gordon was released on the morning of February 14.