VZCZCXRO2315
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHFN #0412/01 1841306
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031306Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY FREETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1186
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 FREETOWN 000412 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO PGOV PHUM PREL SL
SUBJECT: SIERRA LEONEAN EDITOR ARRESTED IN CONTROVERY OVER 
QADHAFI'S GENEROSITY 
 
REF: FREETOWN 404 
 
1.(U) The June 25-27 visit of Libyan leader Col.Muammar 
Qadhafi to Sierra Leone has had a severe ripple effect that 
has unsettled the country and led to the arrest of Phillip 
Neville, editor of Freetown's "Standard Times" daily 
newspaper.  A controvery erupted when President Kabbah 
publicly thanked Qadhafi on June 26 for providing two 
shiploads of rice as well as other assistance (reftel).  In a 
country where the price and availability of rice are 
emotional topics, the public, encouraged by inflammatory 
media reports, immediately saw the gift as affirmation of 
government corruption since there was no recollection of it 
having been publicized.  Neville's front page June 27 
headline, "Bombshell - Col. Gaddaffi exposes Govt", made him 
the Government's scapegoat for irresponsible journalism, 
although by then the entire country had leapt to the same 
conclusion. 
 
2.(SBU) President Kabbah was infuriated, according to 
insiders, that his carefully crafted diplomacy to elicit 
assistance from Qadhafi had been misinterpreted.  Much of the 
media had already questioned the appropriateness of his 
inviting Qadhafi and awarding him Sierra Leone's highest 
honor when it was Qadhafi who had instigated Sierra Leone's 
gruesome conflict by funding, arming, and training RUF leader 
Foday Sankoh and NPFL leader Charles Taylor.  Neville, who is 
known for rushing to print without checking facts, was an 
inviting target to blame.  Furthermore, Neville, who is the 
Vice President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journlists 
(SLAJ), has not endeared himself to colleagues, and is being 
sued by the female editor of "Awareness Times" for publishing 
a photo of her head superimposed on the body of another naked 
woman and accusing her of having been Sankoh's mistress. 
 
3.(U) Neville was arrested on June 28 and charged on June 30 
with one count of publishing false informtion under the 
Public Order Act of 1965 for defamation as opposed to 
seditious libel, which was the case when Paul Kamara, editor 
of "For di People", was convicted in the last press trial in 
2004 for inaccurate allegations about the President. (Note: 
Kamara's conviction was overturned on appeal.)  Neville had 
been charged under Section 32(2) of the Act which reads: "any 
person who publishes any false statement, or rumour or report 
which is calculated to bring into disrepute any person who 
holds an office under the Constitution, in the discharge of 
his duties shall be guilty of an offense and liable to 
conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred leones (Note: 
currently equivalent to U.S. 16 cents unlike 1965) or to 
imprisonment not exceeding two years or both."  He has also 
been charged under Section 32(3) which is for the same 
offense but "which is likely to injure the credit or 
reputation of Sierra Leone or of the Government" and carries 
the lesser penalties of 300 leones (currently about U.S. 10 
cents) and/or imprisonment not to exceed twelve months. 
 
4.(U) The Government's strong reaction reflects a genuine 
concern that the rice issue, if not contained, could 
destabilize the country.  On June 29, armed youths attacked a 
truck carrying rice in broad daylight in Freetown and stole 
the entire load.  According to news reports, the youths 
defied "Government thieves" to stop them from taking their 
"share of Qadhafi's donated rice."  UNIOSIL reported that the 
rice issue has generated unrest throughout the country that 
could erupt into violence. 
 
5.(U) In an effort to defuse the situation, the Government 
called a rare press conference on June 29 chaired by Minister 
of Information Kai-Kai that convoked the entire diplomatic 
corps and government ministers in addition to the press. 
Advisors to President Kabbah and other senior officials 
explained in excrutiating detail that the Qadhafi donation 
had been two consignments, not shiploads, of rice in 2001-02 
that had been publicly announced and transparently sold and 
distributed with the proceeds being used to establish the 
National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) program 
for pensions.  Contrary to the "Standard Times" report, they 
noted, the President himself had cited the donation when 
thanking Qadhafi for his assistance.  The officials at the 
press conference were emotional, clearly feeling that their 
efforts to be transparent had been manipulated by the press 
and, by inference, opposition political parties going into 
the elections.  No official had benefited from sale of the 
Libyan rice, they insisted, and contrasted that with the sale 
of U.S. PL-480 rice that was diverted in the early 1980's by 
the opposition APC regime that produced a substantial debt 
that was only recently written off by the U.S. Government in 
the HIPC process. 
 
6.(U) Although the press was invited to ask questions about 
the rice, journalists only made statements concerning the 
 
FREETOWN 00000412  002 OF 002 
 
 
arrest of Phillip Neville, whom the officials had not 
mentioned at all.  Oddly some journalists applauded Neville's 
arrest because of the national security situation, while 
others noted that the matter should have been handled through 
reasoned discussion with an opportunity for retraction of the 
story.  SLAJ and several newspaper journals have since called 
for his release.  Neville was granted unusually high bail of 
200 million leones (approximately U.S. $67,000) the evening 
of July 2, and is expected to be released on July 3. 
 
7.(SBU) Comment:  The rice issue is only the latest in series 
of setbacks for President Kabbah and the SLPP as they head 
into a very competitive presidential and parliamentary 
election.  Kabbah had hoped that the visits of UK Prime 
Minister Tony Blair, Nigerian President Obasanjo, and Libyan 
leader Qadhafi in the past month would showcase his own 
presidency as he heads to retirement.  Instead, Blair would 
not travel from the airport to Freetown because of the 
condition of local helicopters (one of which subsequently 
crashed killing a Togolese minister among others); Obasandjo 
evoked repressed feelings about war atrocities by Nigerian 
ECOMOG peacekeepers; and Qadhafi produced outrage that he had 
been invited at all.  Furthermore, Kabbah's three-hour long 
farewell speech to Parliament summarizing his 
accomplishements was cynically ignored by most of the 
country.  All of these well-intended events have backfired, 
putting Kabbah's Sierra Leone People's Party and its 
presidential candidate, Vice President Berewa, on the 
defensive. 
 
8.(SBU) Comment continued:  President Kabbah has no one but 
himself to blame for announcing the Libyan rice donation 
without clarifying that it had been made several years ago. 
The press reports reflected public sentiment, and Kabbah 
himself compounded the problem by making Neville a martyr for 
press freedom.  The charges against Neville are likely to be 
dropped after Kabbah leaves office in August, but meanwhile 
he has shot his own party in the foot.  This being an 
election year, the allegations of malfeasance will have legs 
even if the Government's version of events is not 
discredited.  Assuming the threat to national stability is 
defused, this episode may have the unintended benefit of 
fueling efforts to repeal the Public Order Act as an 
anachronistic law that violates constitutional guarantees for 
freedom of the press.  End Comment. 
 
HULL