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CPJ letter to Kabbah

    ABIDJAN

    The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sent a letter on Friday to President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah informing him of press freedom violations and in particular the detention of a journalist by Sierra Leonean authorities.

    Abdoul Kouyateh, acting editor of the private Freetown weekly ‘Wisdom Newspaper’, was detained by officers from the Criminal Investigation Department on 11 May and taken to the the central police station in Freetown, Ann Cooper, executive director of CPJ, said in the letter.

    He is being held for “endangering state security” by requesting an interview with the leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Foday Sankoh, currently being held by the Sierra Leone police in an undisclosed location. Kouyateh had been detained without formal charges for longer than the 72-hour limit imposed by the constitution, CPJ said.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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