How Digital Civic Engagement in Sierra Leone Forced The President To Revoke Murderer's Pardon
Something extraordinary happened in Sierra Leone yesterday—the President revoked a pardon less than three weeks after he freed a convicted murderer. The series of events that led to this reversal show how digital civic engagement has the power to shift policy.
Salami Sydney Buckle (DJ Cleff) murdered and dismembered in July 2015 at the age of 35.
On New Year’s day as is the case every year, the president freed 160 prisoners. One of them was the convicted murderer Mbaimb Moiforay also known as LA Chocolate, LAC for short. LAC had been sentenced to death row for the murder of 35-year-old Salami Sydney Buckle who was known as DJ Cleff.
I was in the office in Freetown on New Year’s Day when Augustine asked if I remembered DJ Cleff. How could I forget? I had written about his murder in 2015.
Augustine went on to tell me that the president had released LAC Since his release, LAC had made several social media posts boasting about his release including brandishing a new car. I was both disgusted and disturbed.
DJ Cleff worked at the Sierra Leonean Broadcasting Corporation when he was killed. He had left home to go to a party in Aberdeen and that was the last anyone had seen of him. In the weeks after his murder, there were rumours that his body had been sacrificed as a part of a ritual.
LAC and three others were eventually arrested. He was tried, found guilty and sentenced to death row. It wasn’t that long ago.
A couple of days after the pardon I saw a tweet from the Institute for Legal Reform and Justice. It linked to an article on their blog with the headline: Yu We Die Na Yu Sori—a Krio adage that both expresses the finality of death and the fact that with life anything is possible.
The Institute for Legal Reform and Justice (ILRAJ) said that if murderers like LAC could be pardoned over those serving sentences for minor offenses then there was a need for reform in the pardon eligibility process.
We need to make the presidential pardon process more transparent. We have no idea how people are nominated for pardon? https://t.co/yjTaksoQUH #SierraLeone #SaloneTwitter
— ILRAJ (@ILRAJ2) January 4, 2022
I retweeted the article to amplify what I felt was an injustice against Cleff’s family. I posted the same on Facebook and comments ranged from disbelief to disappointment. There were those who suggested that perhaps the Presidency pardoned the convict in order to make use of his ritual powers in the upcoming election. Before he was arrested LAC was known as a medicine man.
I was shocked that @PresidentBio pardoned LAC a man convicted of murdering Henry David Sydney Buckle, aka DJ Clef.
— Vickie Remoe (@VickieRemoe) January 4, 2022
Will never forget how Clef’s body was cut up and left to rot in our community in Murray Town.
Clef went to a party and never came home 2 his family. #SierraLeone https://t.co/rX02gqkd5T pic.twitter.com/LcMlpPOo3Y
Making the situation worse still was the emergence of photos of LAC and LAJ (newly released from jail) on Facebook socializing at a bar. LAC was not looking to quietly fade into the background, he wanted visibility and he was getting it. The more people learned about his release the more questions were raised about his pardon worthiness. Did the Presidency want to consult with LAC in 2023?
“Wata still day na people dem Yai”
Once the footage of LAJ and LAC went viral Sara D Great (a well known and respected entertainer) put out a video condemning LAJ for associating with LAC. Furthermore, Sara went on to share that LAC had made remarks to him before that once his party came to power he would be released. Sara called on other entertainers to disassociate themselves from LAC and asked the public to remember Cleff’s family.
With each Facebook post about LAC, the same question was asked by the public: Why had he been pardoned over others?
On January 14, ILRAJ asked that President Bio revoke the pardon granted to Mbaimb Moiforay aka LAC. Four days later the Presidency said it was not only revoking the pardon but also investigating how LAC had made it onto the pardon list in the first place.
We call on @PresidentBio to revoke the pardon granted to Mbaimb Moiforay aka LAC and join @advocaid & @Purposeful_org to call for a review of all cases of women and girls in detention facilities in #SierraLeone. #SaloneTwitter @awokonewspaper @UmaruFofana @L_A_W_Y_E_R_S_
— ILRAJ (@ILRAJ2) January 14, 2022
Basita Michael, ILRAJ
I called ILRAJ’s Executive Director, Basita Michael to ask what else they had done apart from the posts on their social media channels and website. She said in this instance the advocacy was all online. By the time I got off the twenty-minute call with Basita, the Office of The President had appointed a new Attorney General to replace Anthony Brewah. Brewah sat on the presidential pardon committee and this morning there was a photo of LAC at his house on Facebook. Also, in photos with LAC at former AG Anthony Brewah’s house was the Minister of Information who quickly took to Twitter to announce that he had no prior dealings with LAC and that the meeting with LAC at Brewah’s house had been purely coincidental.
My attention has been drawn a photo which was taken in the AG's parlour in Tiama where I had stopped over to pay him a courtesy call as I usually do when passing through Tiama. I have never met LAC before, let alone have any dealings with him.
— Honourable Mohamed Rahman Swaray (@SwarayRahman) January 18, 2022
Basita said: “What has to be done next is to set clear guidelines about the issuance of presidential pardons. That’s how we ensure that this doesn’t happen again, and guarantee justice and clemency to those who most deserve it.”
What will happen next is not clear. Is LAC still in Sierra Leone? If he is, will he be arrested? What is certain is that digital civic engagement and media advocacy can yield results. Sierra Leonean keyboard warriors, citizens and activists should know that their posts do matter and continue to use social media to speak truth to power.
