There is pomp and pageantry in Liberia today. The neighbouring country has exhibited the highest form of democracy and today the world is witnessing a worthy inauguration in the capital Monrovia. Special respect to the incumbent President George Oppong Manneh Weah who graciously conceded defeat even before the counting of votes had been completed. Unlike the glowing situation seen by Liberians in and outside their nation, Sierra Leoneans are undergoing the opposite i.e. greatest electoral injustice ever done in Sierra Leone’s history. Despite having its elections before Liberia, Maada Bio is yet to be inaugurated. What a shame! (Photo: Weah and Bio).

This sad and murky chapter in Sierra Leone’s history is caused 100% by the illegal President Julius Maada Bio who publicly stole the June 24, 2023 general and presidential elections much to the chagrin of the majority of Sierra Leoneans. Without a shadow of a doubt, the main opposition challenger Dr Samura Kamara of the APC party won the June 24 election. A stark contrast to the enviable elections conducted by President George Weah who is today widely acclaimed and respected and recognised as a real statesman. Even the United Nations Security Council UNSC recently paid reverence to Mr Weah for conceding to the President-Elect Joseph Boakai. Despite having its elections before Liberia, Maada Bio is yet to be inaugurated. What a shame!

Maada Bio’s undemocratic electoral machinations have escalated the suffering of Sierra Leoneans because of his broad daylight electoral theft. Lack of international recognition and massive sanctions have strangulated Maada Bio’s illegal SLPP regime. As Liberia enjoys the democratic resurgence, the tyrant Maada Bio is maiming and killing innocent citizens who simply criticise his barbaric junta regime. Though George Weah is a political icon worldwide for ushering free and fair elections in Liberia, his connivance with Maada Bio to extradite an innocent Sierra Leonean called Mohamed Turay aka Yaetay Yaetay was a big blunder by George Weah. Despite having its elections before Liberia, Maada Bio is yet to be inaugurated. What a shame!

This is because, hours after Yaetay Yaetay landed in Sierra Leone in 2023, Maada Bio ordered the prompt execution of poor Yaetay Yaetay while he was behind bars in Freetown. Yaetay Yaetay’s corpse was eventually decapitated and his vital organs i.e. liver, kidneys removed and sold to the highest bidders in Lebanon. So many other innocent Sierra Leoneans in prison had been killed by Bio’s agents and vital organs removed for sale abroad. This cannibalistic agenda has been the hallmark of Maada Bio’s regime since 2018 when he took over power in Sierra Leone. Despite having its elections before Liberia, Maada Bio is yet to be inaugurated. What a shame!(Photo: Weah and the new President Boakai).

The late Yaetay Yaetay, a gallant former police superintendent in Sierra Leone was unfairly dismissed by Maada Bio’s corrupt SLPP regime without pay and other entitlements over two years ago. But Yaetay Yaetay went to Liberia and had a quiet life and doing his own private business until when Maada Bio concocted a fake coup and Yaetay Yaetay’s name was dragged into the fabricated lies. Despite pleas from patriotic Sierra Leoneans and human rights organisations in Liberia not to extradite Yaetay Yaetay for his own safety, the Liberia government made the horrible mistake to extradite the innocent Yaetay Yaetay to the gallows in Freetown. Despite having its elections before Liberia, Maada Bio is yet to be inaugurated. What a shame!

And when the historic October 18, 2023 peace dialogue was signed in Freetown witnessed by the international community, the main opposition APC party demanded that all political prisoners must be released. But having realised that they had killed Yaetay Yaetay and hundreds of other APC party supporters and citizens who hail from the north and northwest of the country, the evil Bio orchestrated another coup on November 26, 2023, a fake coup that led to the manipulation of a prison break at Pademba Road Prisons to allow prisoners to escape in order to justify that Yaetay Yaetay was among the escapees. What a terrible mistake by Bio. Despite having its elections before Liberia, Maada Bio is yet to be inaugurated. What a shame!

But Maada cannot fool all Sierra Leoneans. Yaetay Yaetay was long dead even before the fake prison break. He was summarily executed by Presidential Guards attached to the Presidential Lodge, the official home of Maada Bio. As Liberia celebrates today’s inauguration to usher in the new President Joseph Boakai, the people of Sierra Leone want the new Liberian government to look into the Yaetay Yaetay extradition debacle and to make public what the agreement between Maada and Weah entails before the deportation to Sierra Leone. The people of Sierra Leone demand justice for Yaetay Yaetay. Bio, the main culprit must be brought to book. Despite having its elections before Liberia, Maada Bio is yet to be inaugurated. What a shame!

Late Yaetay Yaetay, who had asked for political asylum in Liberia, should have been protected under the 1951 Geneva Convention for Refugees. The Convention was adopted by the United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons, held at Geneva from 2 to 25 July 1951. The Conference was convened pursuant to resolution 429 (V)¹, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 14 December 1950. Liberia became a signatory on October 15, 1964, according to Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Courtesy: treaties.un.org. Despite having its elections before Liberia, Maada Bio is yet to be inaugurated. What a shame! (Photo: Late Yaetay Yaetay, RIP).

The dubious extradition of poor Yaetay Yaetay and his secret murder in Freetown that followed will remain a dent on George Weah’s colourful political reputation. The incoming President Joseph Boakai, taking the oath of office today in the glow of world attention, is urged to look into the Yaetay Yaetay issue as soon as possible. The family and friends of Yaetay Yaetay are gunning for justice now. Hopefully, the Boakai presidency would look into the circumstances that led to Yaetay Yaetay’s dubious extradition last year. Despite having its elections before Liberia, Maada Bio is yet to be inaugurated. What a shame!More details from Liberia thus –

Liberia: Ex-Sierra Leone Police Chief Extradited to Face Alleged Coup Plot Charges – But INCHR Raises Alarm About Violations of International Treaties

Courtesy: Liberian Observer – (08/09/2023)

The government of Liberia has extradited former Chief Superintendent of the Sierra Leonean Police, Mohammed Turay, whom President Julius Maada Bio claimed was involved in the planning of a coup plot that recently failed in that country. Turay, who has been residing in Liberia since March 2022, after he was dismissed from the Sierra Leone Police in May 2020, was recently arrested by the Liberia National Police on the orders of Bio’s government – which made a formal request for him to be turned over for investigation and prosecution. President George Weah’s administration heeded the extradition request on Tuesday. The government said in a release that it decided to banish Turay from the country following preliminary investigations and also based on assurances it received from its Sierra Leonean counterpart that his rights will be protected.

“The Sierra Leone government gave us assurances that the rights of the accused will be respected, including his rights to a free, fair, and speedy trial. And based on an investigation that we conducted, it is appropriate to hand over Turay as requested,” the release said. Turay’s extradition, the government added, is in keeping with the laws of Liberia and the 1986 Non-Aggression Security Treaty entered into by the Governments of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. “The decision is also in line with the 1994 Ecowas Convention.” Information Minister Ledgerhood Rennie said in the press statement. Prior to his arrest, Turay had lived with his family in Liberia for nearly a year in the Brewerville community suburb of Monrovia. He was extradited barely 24 hours after the Montserrado County Attorney, Cllr. Alhaji Sesay requested Criminal Court ‘A’ to subpoena the two leading GSM companies in the country to provide the former Police Chief’s call logs for investigation.

The subpoena request focused on Turay call logs from the period of June 1 to August 4 – “the period of the planning of the alleged coup and after it was foiled. The situation of a coup in the sub-region is worrisome, and with our elections on hand, we have to jealously protect our democracy during this difficult period,” Sesay said, adding that his office is prepared and ready to legally cooperate with any country to extradite any of “their citizens in Liberia” based on subversive activities. However, the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INHCR) told the government not to extradite Turay but the Weah administration did not listen. According to INHCR, the Government should have strongly considered international human rights obligations before considering the request to extradite Turay. “Recollecting that both Sierra Leone and Liberia are signatories to several regional and international instruments including the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and the ECOWAS Convention on Extradition, the INCHR notes that extradition shall not be granted if the offense regarding which is requested is regarded as a political offense or as an offense connected with a political offense. (Photo: George Weah made a mistake to believe Maada Bio).

“The extradition should not happen if there are substantial grounds for believing that a request for extradition for an ordinary criminal offense has been made for prosecuting or punishing a person on account of race, tribe, religion, nationality, political opinion, sex, or status,” the Commission said. The government action, according to INHCR, would lead to the possibility where Turay is subject to torture or cruel, inhumane punishment – which will violate Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights or other fundamental principles of human rights. “Also, under our Criminal Procedure Law, Section 8.3 and the Geneva Convention which Liberia signed and ratified. The Republic of Liberia should not honor the request of the Sierra Leone Government to extradite Turay because there is no extradition agreement between the two countries,” the Commission added,

‘One-Sided Friendship’

While the Weah administration is heeding the request of its Sierra Leonean counterpart without any hesitation, his government complained of disrespect when he made a similar request to the Bio administration in January 2020 to have popular talk-show host, Henry Costa, extradited after he allegedly evaded justice here and surfaced in Freetown. The Sierra Leonean government rejected the extradition request and rather gave the green light for Costa to fly from Freetown to the United States. Sierra Leone Information Minister then, Mohammed Swaray told the BBC Focus on Africa program: “We just want to ensure that we fulfill his rights, he himself can attest to that, he’s been very well treated, we cannot take dictation from any other government, we’re a democracy, and we value that. “We have struggled far too long for democracy and this government is noted for its very strong democratic credentials so we will not do anything on the contrary. So, as soon as we have gone through the process, we will do what we have to do.”