Pip: There is a phrase that sounds obvious until you realize how rarely it is honored: your rights should not depend on who is in power. Mama Salone Blog is making that case directly, and it is pointed at Sierra Leone right now.
Mara: Today we are looking at judicial independence, the detention of a lawyer mid-hearing, and what ordinary citizens can actually do when they believe due process has broken down.
Pip: Let's start with the case that set this off.
Our Rights Must Not Depend on Who Is in Power
Mara: The question this piece is asking is whether fundamental legal protections held in a specific, documented moment — and whether Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad have a role in pressing for an answer.
Pip: The facts as laid out are stark. On 8 October 2026, lawyer Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara was ordered into custody by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court while he was actively representing the opposition in constitutional proceedings.
Mara: The post frames it precisely: "This is not simply about JFK. It is about the rights of every Sierra Leonean. It is about the independence of our legal profession. And it is about the safeguards that must exist whenever judicial power is used to take away a person's liberty."
Pip: That framing matters. Detaining a lawyer mid-case is not a procedural footnote — it reaches the question of whether the courtroom itself remains a protected space for legal argument.
Mara: The post is careful to acknowledge that courts do have contempt powers. Nobody disputes that. The issue is whether the principles of fairness, impartiality, and proportionality were applied here.
Pip: And Sierra Leone has been bound by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights since 1996, so there is an existing international framework to measure this against — arbitrary detention and the right to a fair hearing before an impartial tribunal are not aspirational, they are treaty obligations.
Mara: The response proposed is civic and procedural. The author has formally written to UN Special Procedures — specifically the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers — and is inviting others to do the same, at urgent-action@ohchr.org.
Pip: The guidance on how to write is genuinely practical: use your own words, stick to facts you can source, keep it respectful. As the post puts it, credibility is the strongest tool available.
Mara: The closing line captures the whole argument in one sentence — judicial independence and judicial accountability are not opposites; they must go together.
Pip: Rights that only apply to the politically convenient are not rights at all.
Mara: And knowing the specific channel to raise your voice — that turns a principle into an action. More from Sierra Leone next time.
