The Sierra Leone Police (SLP) force is being widely publicised as being a professional force for good. But the manner in which certain issues are being handled by the police is in total contrast with the meanings of professionalism or force for good.
Police personnel almost always act against the dictates of the national constitution, law and order, and universal human rights declarations.
The frog-marching of the police I.G to Parliament a couple of days ago to apologize for an unconstitutional act is one among the numerous examples of professional misconducts that have plagued the SLP.
Again, several disable persons (including the one whose photograph is published below) were recently arrested and locked up in stinking police cells for seventeen days without being allowed to change their clothes. This happened after the disable persons have been seriously manhandled by the police officers. They were also not allowed access to medical attention for all the 17 days they spent in police cells.
Shockingly however, the police later released them on grounds of want of evidence. The disable people were earlier accused by the police of being responsible for the murder of journalist Ibrahim Foday, who was stabbed to death, but they were unable to put out a single evidence connecting the disable people to the murder. Instead, it has come out clearly that it was a police officer that aided the journalist's murder.
This action of the police totally violates the national constitution and international human rights laws. Keeping a suspect behind bars without releasing him on bail or charging him to court is against the constitution of Sierra Leone, which allows a suspect to be kept behind bars for a maximum of ten days. At the expiration of ten days for economical crimes, the police must conclude its investigation and if the police is able to gather evidences charge the suspect to court or release him if not found wanton.
But the police never released these disable persons after the constitutional ten days behind bars and have seen no need to tender an apology with possible compensation for the unconstitutional detention of the disable persons.
Last week in Lumley, a police officer attacked a school boy and mercilessly beat him up. Do you know the 'crime' of the school boy? He was trying to take a snapshot of the police who was practically fighting a taxi driver. But the schoolboy adequately defended himself from the lawless police officer. Noticing that he was bleeding and that the police officer had acted contrary to his mandate, the school boy blessed the police officer with a couple of heavy slaps and kicks. Though it is bad to take the laws into your hands, but i support the move of the school boy which must have served as a lesson to the lawless police officer.
What a lawless police force we have down here? If anyone is searching for an example of a rotten police force, in my view, Sierra Leone is the place to be.
By Abdul Fonti
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