Event Summary
On 24 February 2026, musician and model Zainab Sherriff was denied bail for the third time by Magistrate Mustapha Braima Jah, where she is standing trial on three counts of incitement and insulting language contrary to Section 2 of the 1965 Public Order Act. The prosecution alleges that during a meeting at the Brima Attouga Mini Stadium on 31 January 2026, Sheriff delivered statements capable of provoking public disorder, and insulted President Bio, when she alleged Bio stole the 2023 elections. Her case related to the same allegations levied against Lawyer Lansana Dumbuya, who are both members of the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) Party.
Zainab has been in detention since being arrested on 20 February 2026, after a wanted notice was put up by the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) for her on misdemeanour charges, that is expected to get bail. The Magistrate is insisting to start hearing witnesses first before considering bail, whilst the prosecution continues to delay bring their witnesses. The 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone requires that an accused is presumed innocent until found guilty, whilst the 2024 Criminal Procedures Act prescribes for bail for misdemeanour charges. This is seen as deliberate ploy to continue keeping her in prison. Her party the APC, has already been fined by the Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC) for this utterance, which has been paid. The sequence is difficult to interpret as anything other than punitive excess. It raises the spectre of double punishment and selective enforcement, the kind of legal overreach that erodes public confidence in the neutrality of state institutions.
There has been condemnation of her arrest and continued detention by right groups including Institute for Legal Research Advocacy and Justice (ILRAJ), with an unannounced protest by women in the precinct of the court calling for her release.