On 13 February 2025, the Sierra Leone Police arrested and detained Dutch journalist Sophie Van Leeuwen, an Africa correspondent for RTL Nieuws, accusing her of unlawfully capturing images and espionage. She was investigating fugitive drug lord Jos Leijdekker, who was reported to be hiding in Sierra Leone and was seen attending a local ceremony with the first family. RTL Nieuws’ editor-in-chief, Ilse Oppeneer, revealed that Sophie was accredited by the Ministry of Information and Civic Education (MoICE) in Sierra Leone. Her aide, Joseph Turay, the Managing Editor for Public Review Newspaper, was also arrested with her. Both were taken to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), where Joseph reportedly escaped and fled the country. Sophie was interrogated for over 15 hours on suspicion of espionage. After several days, she was released, but the police confiscated her memory card and deleted some video files from her laptop.
This incident underscores the risks faced by journalists in Sierra Leone, where investigative reporting on sensitive issues can lead to arrest, detention, and forced deletion of work. Such actions create a hostile environment for civil society, deterring journalists and activists from pursuing critical investigations and reporting on matters of public interest.