16 July 2018 :

27 November 2017: in the newly released White Paper on the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) Report, the government indicated that it will retain the death penalty in Section 16 (1) of the 1991 Constitution.
The CRC report was presented to the President on 24th January 2017, with several recommendations of which was a call for the abolition of the death penalty, under the theme Protection of Right to Life.
The Section reads… “No person shall be deprived of his life intentionally except in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence under the laws of Sierra Leone, of which he has been convicted.”
During consultations with Parliamentarians, they were in favour of abolishing the death penalty completely. The CRC also took account of numerous position papers including that of the HRCSL that had been received, and the responses from nationwide consultations where there was a clear majority call for the abolition of the death penalty.
The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) 2014 report recommended that the government and the CRC should implement the TRC and the Universal periodic Review recommendations for the abolition of the death penalty.
They also urged government through the office of the Attorney general to sign the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on the abolition of the death penalty.
In May 2014, Minister of Justice, Franklyn Bai Kargbo told the United Nations that Sierra Leone intended to abolish capital punishment in law and that the death sentences of the country’s last death row prisoners had been commuted to life imprisonment.
In the HRCSL 2016 report, they reported that they were concerned about statement made on radio by the Internal Affairs Minister Palo Conteh, on 21st October that the gallows would be tested and prepared in readiness for use. A mock execution was subsequently done at the Freetown Male Correctional Centre on 25th October, which was viewed on television.
The death penalty in Sierra Leone indicates that murder, treason, and aggravated robbery are death-eligible. Hanging and shooting is the method provided by law for any execution.
The Government’s response was that the CRC plenary did not have a quorum of members when they were voting on the recommendation around abolishing the death penalty. “Further, the recommendation is not representative of the views of the members of the CRC who voted twenty-three to eighteen in favour of retaining the death penalty…”
As a result, the government says it will maintain the death penalty as a deterrent to heinous crimes against humanity.
Despite the government stance to maintain the death penalty, the last known execution was carried out by firing squad in October 1998, where they publicly executed 24 soldiers for taking part in a military coup.
In 2010, there were 13 prisoners on death row. Recent presidential pardons contributed to emptying death row, according to Amnesty International, there were no prisoners on death row by the end of 2012.
A man was sentenced to death in 2013 (the first death sentence since 2011) and was the only person under sentence of death until recently.

25 August 2018 :

29^th November, 2017: the High Court of Sierra Leone presided over by Justice Monfred Momoh Sesay, sentenced two men to death by hanging, after convicting them on conspiracy and murder.
The Prosecution had alleged that Solomon Bondi and Hector Sesay on January 1, 2015, at No.9 Off Beckley Lane, Tengbeh Town, west of Freetown, conspired with unknown persons to commit a felony and murdered one Daniel Salieu Kamara, an Operational Support Division (OSD) officer of the Sierra Leone Police, who was guarding the residence of one Mohamed Abass.
Addressing members of the Jury, Justice Monfred Sesay said the duo was committed to the High Court on three count charges of conspiracy, robbery with aggravation and murder contrary to the laws of Sierra Leone.
He said to prove their case beyond all reasonable doubt, the prosecution led by Joseph A.K Sesay, presented ten witnesses, including the Government Consultant Pathologist Dr. Semion Owizz Koroma, who testified in the matter.
After going through the evidences of the prosecution witnesses and the statements of both convicts, Justice Sesay informed the jury that he was taking his time to read all the evidences and statements in order to be able to refresh their minds.
He reminded them that they are judges of fact and that they should be well informed about the case before handing down judgment.
He told the jurors that on count one -conspiracy, the prosecution had led in evidence one Julian Bangura who had told the court that he attended the same primary school with the second accused.
He said the witness further told the court that on the date of the incident, he overheard people shouting from the direction of the crime scene, adding that he came out of his house to ascertain as to what was going on ,but somebody threatened him that he should go back or he would be killed.
He said the witness further told the court that he returned and started looking through his window, where he later heard a gunshot in the compound of the complainant.
He told the court that the witness had testified that he later saw the second accused, together with two other people walking closer to his residence, with the one of them carrying a gun.
The judge furthered that the fourth prosecution witness, Patrick Tarawaly, had also testified that on the night of the incident, he overheard people shouting from the compound where the police officer was murdered.
He said the witness had told the court that he thought the said people were sharing some money, but noted that as he tried making his way into the compound, he heard a gunshot and hid himself somewhere to observe the situation.
The judge said the witness had told the court that he overheard one of the accused saying, “Super is not at home but his is at home.”
He added that the witness had told the court that the accused also directed the others to the room of one Amude, and that he overheard the deceased asking ‘you again?
The judge called on the jury to take note of the above testimonies of the third and fourth prosecution witnesses when giving their judgment in the matter, adding that they should pay keen attention to the statement of the first accused to the police for inconsistencies.
After hanging  heads together, the jurors returned with a guilty verdict on conspiracy and murder and a not guilty verdict on robbery with aggravation.
The pronouncement was made by foreman, Mohamed Abu Bangura.
In his judgment on count one –conspiracy, Justice Sesay sentenced both convicts to ten years imprisonment and death by hanging on murder, while he acquitted them on robbery with aggravation.

17 November 2017 :

The High Court of Sierra Leone in Moyamba convicted 2 Armed Robbers for the offences of Conspiracy, Robbery with Aggravation and Wounding with intent.
Mohamed Swarray (aka Gbassay) and James Alfred (aka Cow) were both arraigned on a 5 counts indictment of Conspiracy, Robbery with Aggravation and wounding with intent before the High Court at its Special Criminal Session Holden at Moyamba.
The State had alleged that both accused and others met in Bo town, planned and attacked a number of shops and residence in Gbangbatoke on the 3rd April instant.
The accused who were armed with Machete, crow bar, cutter and scissors attacked and seriously wounded residents of Gbangbatoke Town and robbed them of valuable items and huge sums of money. One of the accused confessed as to how the attacks were planned and carried out and that he was part of the dreadful armed robbery in Pujehun Town.
Hon Justice Monfred Momoh Sesay JA accordingly convicted both accused and sentenced them to death by firing squad appointed for that purpose for the offence of Robbery with Aggravation and to 10 years imprisonment for each of the accused for the offence of wounding with intent.
Both Accused can appeal their convictions and sentences within 21 days.

10 October 2017 :

With the help of jurors, Justice Monfred Momoh Sesay at the Bo High Court convicted and sentenced to death six armed robbers for Conspiracy and Robbery with Aggravation.
The convicts include; Augustine Omaska (aka G-Father), Daniel George, Claude Nahas, Thomas Mando (aka Love-T), Aruna Bangura (Akon) and Steven Joel Smart.
They were convicted in the on-going High Court Special Criminal Session that was initiated by the Chief Justice to see how best pending cases across the country can be concluded within the shortest possible time to discourage prison congestion.
According to the prosecuting team led by Joseph A.K. Sesay, the convicts were brought to Court as a result of being armed with guns and machete attacks residents in Pujehun Town in March 2017 robbing them of their valuables and cash.
The jurors who have been listening to the trial unanimously agreed on the verdict that all the accused are guilty of both charges levied against them and Justice Monfred Momoh Sesay without wasting the Court’s time convicted them with the maximum penalty levied on them sentenced to death by firing squad publicly.
As part of their legal rights, the convicts have the right to appeal their sentence within 21 days or face the full penalty of the law as provided in the laws of the land.
For years, there has been a moratorium on the use of the death penalty despite recent outcry by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Alfred Palo Conteh, for the gallows to be cleaned.

25 August 2018 :

3 October 2017: the convict , Yatta Bakarr was charged with one count of Murder, after she was committed by a Magistrate court in Pujehun and was arrainged before the High Court Holden at Bo during its Special Criminal Session. The convict was arrested in June 2016 following the death of her 9 months old baby Musu Bakarr whose corpse was discovered along the pathway of Y-junction in Sahn town Pujehun on the 26th June 2016.