Event Summary
On 20 August 2025, Truth Media resumed radio broadcasting and released its first newspaper edition after the Government of Sierra Leone reissued its license and frequency. This reversal followed intense and sustained advocacy by the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), which engaged government agencies to uphold media freedom and democratic principles. The reissuance marks a significant win for civil society, demonstrating the power of collective pressure in defending the right to free expression. SLAJ’s intervention was widely supported by media stakeholders and human rights defenders, who viewed the initial license withdrawal—made abruptly on the eve of Truth Media’s launch in July 2025—as a troubling sign.
While Truth Media is now operational, concerns remain. G8 Media Group, despite meeting all licensing requirements, continues to await approval. However, the reissuing of Trust Media license demonstrates signs of a responsive shift in government behavior under public and institutional advocacy. It reflects progress in the protection of media freedom and signals the potential for constructive engagement between civil society and state institutions.
This event is related to a couple of recent developments concerning freedom of expression and civil society activities, but this is a positive step towards protecting media plurality. However, the issue of G8 Media is still in the offing, and similar incidents happened in the past with the recent manhandling of an African Young Voice Television (AYV TV) reporter by Police officers in Freetown, Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) staff brutally assaulting the Editor for the Open Space Newspaper, Speaker of Parliament’s ban on Melvin Tejan Mansaray, Thomas Dixon going into hiding after calling out the Inspector General of police’s overreach on his Facebook page, and Dutch journalist Sophie Van Leeuwen arrested and detained by the Sierra Leone Police after she was in the country investigating Jos Leijdekkers story. Umu Thoronka the former SLBC Journalist who was sacked for sharing a video on social media of a lady questioning President Bio during a town hall meeting last year is still fresh, as she fled after allegations of threats to her life, and her whereabout is still unknown. This fugitive drug lord is hiding in Sierra Leone. Related events in the past year also include the arbitrary arrest and detention of civil society activists Thomas Babadi and Wadi Williams in December 2024 for a planned peaceful demonstration. This pattern of the government targeting its critics is part of this broader trend of democratic backsliding.