The Plight of 22 Sierra Leoneans in Guinea Prison
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara
Following their arrest by Guinean authorities who had accused them of being rebels from Sierra Leone, twenty –two Sierra Leonean youth are still languishing inside a prison in neighboring Guinea where they have been held since October 5 last year.
The twenty youth mostly between the ages of 25 and 30 according to investigation mounted by Salone Compass Newspaper, were heading for the Middle East which they had hoped to use as a crossing point to Europe in search of greener pastures when they were unfortunately arrested by Guinean authorities.
Since their arrest on October 5 last year, our investigation revealed, authorities at the Sierra Leone Embassy in Guinea have completely abandoned them to suffer unjustly in prison.
Authorities in Guinea told Salone Comaps Newspaper that those young men can only be released from prison if the Sierra Leonean Ambassador to Guinea identifies them as Sierra Leoneans.
Even more worrisome is the fact that in spite of all the efforts by the victims and their relatives, the Ambassador and his embassy officials remain unmoved by the current plight of our brothers.
As at the time of writing this piece, some of the imprisoned youth are feared dead as their health conditions had badly deteriorated.
Efforts to get the Ambassador or any official at the Sierra Leone Embassy in Guinea to comment on the issue proved futile as several calls and messages sent remained unanswered.
Relatives of the twenty victims are therefore appealing to the government of Sierra Leone to intervene and save their loved ones from their current predicaments.