Calls for release of Sierra Leonean singer jailed in ‘crackdown on free speech’

Key points

• Lawyers, politicians and activists have called for the release of one of Sierra Leone’s best-known celebrities, who they said was unjustly imprisoned as part of a government crackdown on free speech and political dissent.
• Zainab Sheriff, a singer and reality-TV show contestant who became a political opposition figure, was sentenced in April to four years and two months’ imprisonment for incitement and using threatening language.
• Sheriff’s charges stem from a speech she made in January, a video recording of which was played at the trial.
• According to prosecutors, Sheriff made statements during a rally saying that anyone who rigged an election had stolen the people’s vote, committed treason and they and their families should be killed.
• View image in fullscreen Zainab Sheriff was known for singing and reality TV before she went into politics During the last election in Sierra Leone in 2023, organisations including the Carter Center, a US...