Election : émeute en Sierra Leone – 16 janvier 2012

Cops quell Sierra Leone by-election riot

news24.com

2012-01-16

Freetown – Police used live bullets and tear gas to quell rioting between followers of Sierra Leone’s ruling party and opposition where several people suffered stab wounds, police and witnesses said on Monday.

A witness said members of the ruling All People’s Congress (APC) and main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) had begun hurling accusations at each other during a by-election on Sunday in Fourah Bay and the situation worsened with the arrival of top officials from both sides.

« The crowd blocked their entry into the polling booth as they were not residents of the community nor were they registered as voters in the constituency. Then the riot started, » one witness told AFP.

Members of both parties came away with stab wounds and police used live bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd in the town which lies to the east of the capital Freetown, other witnesses said.

« As far as I am concerned, the tension is uncalled for because in a decent democracy, this kind of tension is not good, » police spokesperson Ibrahim Samura told reporters. Read more…