The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio to withhold his assent to the country’s proposed counterterrorism bill, urging lawmakers to amend provisions that could threaten press freedom.
“President Julius Maada Bio should not assent to Sierra Leone’s terror bill without ensuring that sections hostile to press freedom are amended,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa regional director, from New York. “Sierra Leone’s lawmakers and executive should safeguard the rights to press freedom and free expression as part of their work to protect their country against the threat of terrorism.”
Sierra Leone’s parliament passed the Counterterrorism Act, 2024, on 11 March, and the bill is now awaiting the president’s signature, according to the parliament’s official Facebook page and Deputy Speaker Ibrahim Tawa Conteh, who confirmed the development to CPJ on 28th March 2025.
CPJ’s review of the bill identified provisions that could expose journalists to prosecution. Specifically, Sections 17(f) and 32(f) criminalize the dissemination of information that the sender “knows” to be false or has “reasonable grounds to suspect to be false,” with penalties of life imprisonment and 15 years in prison, respectively. Additionally, Section 4 grants authorities broad powers to “request and obtain information, where it considers it necessary, from any person or authority.”
The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) has also raised concerns, warning that the bill’s vague language and severe penalties pose a serious risk to press freedom and public discourse. Local media organizations have echoed similar apprehensions.
However, in response to CPJ’s concerns, presidential spokesperson Yusuf Keketoma Sandi dismissed the criticisms, describing them as “unjustifiable” in a phone interview.
