I’m a legal
extern working for AdvocAid which is an organisation advocating for women and
children in conflict with the law. As
part of my job, I conduct legal education sessions in police station, prisons
and schools.
During one of
these sessions, I visited the Pademba Road Prisons and spoke to the remand
prisoners. I went with a fellow extern and we interviewed the prisoners
together. During the interview it came
to our knowledge that some of the prisoners have been there for four to five
years and their cases have never been called, heard or tried.
In addition,
most of them were remanded in the first place because they did not fully
understand the legal process and court proceedings while their cases are being
tried. Those without legal representation said they were not even asked
questions or allowed to talk while they were in court. According to the Criminal Procedure Act
1965 sections 15 and 97 and the Sierra Leone Constitution page 12 and the
Fundamental Human Rights, an accused person have a right to a fair trial. They also state that an accused person must
be tried in a language in which he understands and he must be allowed to
explain and give facts about his case if he or she cannot afford a lawyer.
However, though
they were disgruntled about this, the prisoners were a lot more cheerful and
cooperative than we had expected. They
listened, asked questions and answered ours in return. We talked about bail, arrest, court
proceedings and life in prison.
Before this
time, my opinion was that a prison is a very discouraging and depressing place
to be without any good thing to look up to but after this visit, I realised
that this is not the case.
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