| Victory for President Koroma : IMC finds New Vision newspaper guilty of malicious publication |
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| Written by Sheka Tarawallie : State House Press Secretary | |
| Sunday, 29 June 2008 | |
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The
Independent Media Commission (IMC) on
Friday 27th June 2008 found the New
Vision newspaper guilty of publishing false reports
that “were not only defamatory and malicious but a
vicious attempt to malign the good name, character
and reputation of the President, especially when he
was very much concerned about zero tolerance on
corruption.” This decision was reached in the case
of the Office of the President represented by Press
Secretary Sheka Tarawalie versus the New Vision
represented by its Managing Editor A.B.S. Massaquoi.
In this regard, the New Vision was ordered to write
a retraction and send a letter of apology to the
President while at the same time the newspaper would
pay a fine of five hundred thousand leones (Le
500,000). In its Friday May 2 2008 edition, the newspaper had published a front-page lead story with the headline ‘Wasteful... President Koroma Lavished $1.02M Flying’, asserting that the sum in question had been spent on trips to African countries alone. The Press Secretariat had denied the reports and therefore prevailed on the New Vision to do a retraction. The newspaper was recalcitrant, insisting that they stood by their story and that they had evidence to the effect. When the case was brought to the IMC however, the newspaper could not corroborate the figures, employing a last-ditch attempt to mislead the commission by presenting falsified figures that did not even add up to the alleged amount. Here is the full press release from the IMC: COMPLAINT BY PRESS SECRETARY, STATE HOUSE, MR SHEKA TARAWALIE AGAINST THE MANAGING EDITOR, NEW VISION The Independent Media Commission deliberated on a complaint from Mr Sheka Tarawalie, Press Secretary State House with regard to what he termed ‘defamatory and libellous articles’ against H.E. the President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma. The articles which were captioned: ‘Wasteful... President Koroma Lavished $1.02M Flying’ were published in the Friday May 2, Monday May 5 and Tuesday May 6 2008 editions of New Vision. Mr Sheka Tarawalie told the Complaints Committee that the statements were not only defamatory and malicious but a vicious attempt to malign the good name, character and reputation of the President, especially when he was very much concerned about zero tolerance on corruption. He also pointed out that the statement that the President spent $1.02 million on his African trips alone and received $20,000 per diem per trip was false and malicious. He said that for each trip, the Protocol Officer collected an imprest to cover expenses incurred by the delegation. The Complaints Committee conducted three hearings on the matter during which the complainant and defendant were cross-examined by Committee members. Both parties presented documentary evidence to buttress their positions on the matter On close study of both documents, it was discovered that the document presented by the Managing Editor of New Vision which he said he had received from [a] ‘very credible source’ showed that the expenditures incurred on the President’s African trips amounted to $210 USD only, while the amount incurred on the entire trips including his travels to Asia and Europe up to April 2008 amounted to $655. When the disparities in the figures published were viewed against those in the document he presented to the Complaints Committee were pointed out to the Managing Editor, he acknowledged that he had published wrong information as the document containing the figures he had tabled to the Complaints Committee fell far short of what he had published. When asked what he planned to do to correct the misleading report he had published about the President, he offered to publish a retraction. In line with the accuracy requirement and penalty prescribed on page 12 Sections 1 & 3 of the Media Code of Practice, the Board of the IMC has ordered the New Vision newspaper to pay a fine of Le 500,000. The newspaper has also been ordered to publish a retraction on its front page giving it the same prominence as the offending article. It is also to send a letter of apology to the President copied to the Chairperson of the IMC. All of these orders are to be executed within seven days of receipt of the letter from the IMC. SIGNED Commissioners Bernadette P. Cole (Chairman), Priestly Adewole Bell, Francis L. Davies, Cassandra A Davies, Augustine Garmoh, Christo Johnson, Abubakarr H. Kargbo, Isaac Massaquoi, Joshua Nicol, Mohamed Samoura Meanwhile President Ernest Koroma arrived in Egypt for the 11th session of the African Union yesterday. The President will today chair the Committee of 10 on the United Nations Reforms. Among the delegation are First Lady Sia Koroma and Foreign Affairs Minister Zainab Bangura. Sheka TarawaliePresidential Press SecretarySham Al Sheik, Egypt 29 June 2008 |
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 29 June 2008 ) |
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