Lawyers, politicians and activists have called for the release of one of Sierra Leone’s best-known celebrities, who they said was unjustly imprisoned as part of a government crackdown on free speech and political dissent.

Zainab Sheriff, a singer and reality-TV show contestant who became a political opposition figure, was sentenced in April to four years and two months’ imprisonment for incitement and using threatening language.

Sheriff’s charges stem from a speech she made in January, a video recording of which was played at the trial. According to prosecutors, Sheriff made statements during a rally saying that anyone who rigged an election had stolen the people’s vote, committed treason and they and their families should be killed.

During the last election in Sierra Leone in 2023, organisations including the Carter Center, a US election monitoring group, expressed concern about the transparency of the tabulation process.

“A lot of us feel this isn’t about Sheriff’s words,” said Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, mayor of the capital, Freetown, and a member of the All People’s Congress opposition party. “This is about Sheriff being used as a very, very visible, high-profile example of what you must not do in this society now. You must not speak your mind or you can be charged and end up in jail.

“This is about ensuring that people are scared,” she said. “I am disappointed [in the sentence]. And that’s an understatement. The bottom line is, we’ve heard far worse.”

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