Extended Detention of Suspects Prior to the General Elections is Unlawful: CARL Condemns Inspector-General’s Statements
Freetown, Sierra Leone: The Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law – Sierra Leone today expressed grave concern and strong displeasure about recent comments attributed to the Inspector-General of Police in which he warned that anyone who commits a crime will be remanded to prison until after the November 17 general elections. The November 12 edition of the Awoko Newspaper reported that Inspector-General Francis Munu made this statement on November 9 during a national dialogue conference on youth engagement.
Voting is a fundamental right guaranteed by national and international human rights instruments, and to suggest that keeping such persons jailed until after the elections would deprive troublemakers from voting and their candidates from winning is an infringement on fundamental rights, which the IG has no legal authority to carry out. CARL-SL has repeatedly spoken out against the use of remand and discretionary denial of bail as a means of punishment. In this case, not only would mandatory remand in prison until after the elections be a punishment before trial, but also it would be have implications for the suspect’s rights with regard to deprivation of personal liberty and the right to vote under the 1991 Constitution.
Section 17(3)(b) of the 1991 Constitution clearly states that any person who is arrested or detained upon suspicion of having committed or being about to commit a non-capital offence and who is not released shall be brought before a court of law within seventy-two (72) hours of his arrest. Given that the IG made this announcement over a week before the elections are to take place, well before 72 hours prior to election day, such detention of suspects until after the elections without first bringing them before a court of law would be illegal.
The IG also added that a person’s criminal record will stop him or her from taking part in any democratic process, such as voting, in future. No provision of the 1991 Constitution nor the criminal laws of Sierra Leone stipulate that a Sierra Leonean with a criminal record who has attained the voting age of 18 years old forfeits his or her constitutional right to vote.
While such statements could serve as a deterrent to the commission of crimes in the lead up the elections, the IG’s statements must be grounded in what can lawfully be done and the police must still operate within the confines of the law. CARL-SL strongly condemns any violence, including any election-related or politically-motivated violence. Therefore, we urge the Sierra Leone Police to lawfully and effectively exercise their duties in maintaining law and order before, during, and after the general elections.
CARL-SL
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