There is a deafening silence in the media concerning the matter involving Managing Editor of Nightwatch newspaper, Emmanuel Christian ‘Alpha’ Thorli.While the matter cannot be adjudged here as it is being handled by the courts, however, Thorli’s continued incarceration without bail and the silence of the media fraternity on the matter have rendered the media as lambs who are silent at a time when solidarity calls for voices and action.
The matter between the Inspector General of Police (IGP) William Fayia Sellu and Thorli over the alleged ‘assault’ of seven police officers has seen Thorli held without bail for three weeks. His continued incarceration has affected the publishing of Nightwatch that is a critical voice in the media landscape in Sierra Leone, which many of the paper’s readers consider credible for exposing public inadequacies in the governance of the state by providing the platform for writers and others to contribute to or play their part in the governance of the state, not limited to promises made during campaigns and what have been in the offing since the end of the electioneering stage on our national political calendar.
Meanwhile, there is widespread condemnation from media and people in private life for what Alpha allegedly did at the Global Times offices. This piece is not a justification for what allegedly happened.
However, the Silence of the Lambs (guild of editors and the media umbrella organisation, Sierra Leone Association of Journalist – SLAJ) with regards advocacy for Alpha has left many in the media concerned that we could be seeing the railroading of a voice that is seen as unfriendly to the party running the government of Sierra Leone for which the rules and guidelines for assault including bail have been conveniently set aside while Alpha seems to be running jail for what he is entitled to receive bail from the court of law.
As a business owner of high repute, this medium is imploring the appropriate authorities including His Excellency, the Inspector General and the Chief Justice to see reasons to use their good offices in ensuring that Thorli should not be made to spend time in jail for this matter as he has enough collateral to ensure that if given bail he would still appear in court and not interfere with witnesses.
Meanwhile, Thorli’s situation presents a crucial moment for the media to rally behind one of their own to ensure that the case is not being influenced extrajudicial.
What is expected of the media fraternity is advocacy for the release of Alpha on bail while he attends to the matter at court. There is an expectation that the guild of editors would not play to the gallery, because so far we have not seen or heard any action from this important group in the governance of the state (The Fourth Estate) on Emmanuel Christian Thorli still being held without bail for common assault.
The president of SLAJ Alhaji Manika Kamara had an excellent opportunity presented to him to make a case for Thorli but passed up on that opportunity at the Presidential Media Cocktail during the first week of this month. He should have used his speech at that occasion to advocate for the Managing Editor of Nightwatch, using that platform to remind the president and the rest of the media fraternity of Thorli’s case. There was an expectation that the new SLAJ president would have craved the indulgence of the Head of State and his guests on the matter, thereby putting to pay any talk of outside influence on a matter that many say has taken political proportions or overtones.
It is the belief of many in the media and those following this matter the media is generally quiet on the matter for one or several reasons: fear of not getting advertising from government ministries, departments and agencies and professional jealousy of a man whose news medium seems to be growing in leaps and bounds.
There is the allegation that many media owners believe that Alpha should face the full weight of the law for the events of Monday, 8 December 2025 at the Global Times offices at Percival Street in Freetown, while still many more think that the case should not be seen as political, as it is a simple matter of assault for which there are guidelines.
But rumours persist that we could be witnessing the silencing of a voice that is needed in our media landscape, one that is not seen as compromised by the regime…which has rendered the rest of the media fraternity as silent lambs who are afraid to take a stand for one of their colleagues whose matter seems to be blown way out of proportion. If the matter was between any other citizen and the police, would we have seen such a huge interest in the matter, with public and private individuals and organisations going as far as accusing ‘hidden hands’ and ‘orders from above’ of pressuring those involved in the matter to see to it that Nightwatch as an institution suffers for the action of its Managing Editor.
Those who are allegedly trying to make a mountain out of a molehill from the matter involving Emmanuel Christian ‘Alpha’ Thorli of Nightwatch should be circumspect as this matter has a lot of bearing on the separation of powers and the application of procedural law in Sierra Leone.
