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WIMSAL PRESS RELEASE ON WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY MAY 3^RD 2009

Every year on this day, journalists and sympathizers of the media profession celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; evaluate the trend of press freedom around the world and in countries, defend the media from attacks on their independence and pay tribute to those journalists who have lost their lives in the defense and promotion of the profession with their pens In Sierra Leone , this year’s commemoration comes amidst the media’s call for the expulsion of the seditious and criminal libel laws from our law books.

The 1965 Public Order Act still criminalizes libel. Until and unless the media in Sierra Leone gains an appreciable freedom to operate as an autonomous entity with its own rights, freedoms and responsibilities, democracy and its relatives are a far fetch phenomenon. Free media perform critical checking functions on governments, raising the quality of governance.

A free press also provides voice to citizens, creates public forums to discuss key issues, and contributes to socio-economic development. But over the years, as a result of the existence of these laws, journalism has been a very challenging, even dangerous profession. As we celebrate this day, Women in the Media –Sierra Leone (WIMSAL) is urging government to keep to its campaign promise and ensure that they legitimize press freedom not only in words but in deeds. We also call on the International community to support and encourage government in the process.

WIMSAL also wants to use this opportunity to say bravo to the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), for its efforts in the promoting the cause of journalism and press freedom in this country. We want to assure you of our continued support and solidarity in this drive. In addition, we are calling on all concerned stakeholders in the society to help surge forward the principles of fairness and gender equality. Society can not and will not progress if one section of that same society feels deprived and marginalized. The freedom we are all clamoring for can not be fully enjoyed if a segment of the media feels out rightly secluded from the mainstream. We therefore call on all to support equality of the sexes in the profession by promoting and ensuring that opportunities are evenly distributed.

We celebrate today not only as World Press Freedom day, but as a day of reflection on where we stand as a profession and what we stand for as professionals. What we have and what we have not. Those who have and those who do not, in the dispensation of their respective duties to humankind.

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WIMSAL
FREETOWN
SIERRA LEONE

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