By Ragan M Conteh

The All People’s Congress (APC) has expressed deep concerns over the continued detention of some APC members being arrested at their headquarters on the 15th of October, this year during a peaceful meeting with few of the international moral guarantors.

According to letter written to the Inspector General of Police, Faya Sellu, “While we appreciate the efforts of the police in maintaining security, it has become clear that the government is pressuring for the prolonged detention of these individuals, beyond the legal 72-

hour limit We have also learned that both the police and the government are attempting to escalate the matter by preparing charges to take this issue to court. This creates the false impression that the situation is more serious than it is, which undermines the spirit of the Unity Agreement and hampers efforts toward national reconciliation.”

Furthermore, the release states that, it is critical to highlight that Resolution 4 of the Unity Agreement, which calls for the release of political detainees, goes beyond merely releasing those initially detained before the agreement.

The release stated that the intent and purpose of the resolution are clear: to ensure that no further arrests are made on a political basis.

The party highlighted that, the ongoing arrests and detentions undermine the letter and spirit of

this resolution, which aims to prevent the government from continuing politically-motivated detentions under the guise of law enforcement.

By copy of this letter, the release states “we are informing the international moral guarantors, development partners, Peace Commission and the PPRC that the government’s actions are unhelpful and demonstrate a lack of seriousness in fulfilling the Unity Agreement, particularly Resolution 4. Urged the police to act independently, avoid political interference, and release these detaines immediately”.

The releases revealed that, further escalation will only harm the progress toward peace and unity in the country.

In the response to the APC released the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) notes with dismay that the Secretary General of the

All People’s Congress (APC) addressed a letter to the Inspector General of Police and (a letter he also published on social media), captioned: Government’s Interference in the Continued Detention of APC Supporters. The letter accused the Government of pressuring the Sierra Leone Police to prolong the detention of APC supporters in their custody and to subsequently prefer charges against them.

Therefore the police responded that the SLP would like to set the records straight by stating as follows that Police deployment at and within the vicinity of the APC Party Headquarters on Tuesday 15th October, 2024, was predicated on a request

received from the said Secretary General of the Party, complaining that supporters of Dr. Samura Kamara were planning to disrupt their meeting with a joint delegation of international guarantors comprising ECOWAS, the African Union, UNOWAS, and the Commonwealth, at the Party

Headquarters.

The police released says, whilst the Police were deployed at the aforesaid place, some group of

people behaved themselves in a disorderly manner with clear riotous intent, thereby contravening the Public Order [Amendment) Act 2020 which that prompted the Police to arrest, detain, and investigate these suspects at the Criminal Investigations Department Headquarters.

The SLP states, it is worthy to note that on Wednesday 16 October 2024, the National Publịcity Secretary of the APC was on Radio Democracy 98.1 denouncing the behaviours of those arrested by the Police, whilst they attempted to disrupt the 15 October, 2024 business of the day, at their Party’s Headquarters.

The Publicity Secretary further stated on air that those arrested by the Police were not APC Party supporters.

The SLP’s leadership is therefore surprised that the APC Secretary General is complaining that their Party members, who were denied to be supporters

of the APC Party by the Publicity Secretary, have been detained, with further plans by the Police to charge them to court.

The SLP would like to make it abundantly clear that the October 15 actions of the Police within the vicinity of APC Party Headquarters and the subsequent detentions and investigations of the arrested suspects are solely initiated by the Police and not, in any way, dictated by the government of Sierra Leone.

The released also states that the public should note that arrests, detentions, and investigations of suspects are part of the powers of the Police in the exercise of their statutory functions of preserving law and order as well as preventing and detecting crimes.

They revealed that the public should further note that the SLP enjoys operational independence

in the due execution of its functions, as provided for by law.