Sierra Leone Commercial Band (SLCB) and the New Age Newspaper have made their first appearance before Justice Fisher of High Court No. 12 for an alleged defamation matter. SLCB alleged that the New Age Newspaper published an article that the bank considered to be defamatory. On 14th November 2024, the New Age published an article titled ‘’SLCB MD: Yusufu Abdul Silla to pay Le 10 Billion…For Estate Fraud’’.
In his submission, the defense counsel, Abdul Sigismund Sesay Esq. said that he received an unsigned affidavit from the applicant for the plaintiffs, noting that they did not follow the rules and procedures and asked the judge to strike out the matters raised therein.
He said that some of the questions they asked were to the knowledge of the plaintiffs adding that some of these questions are unfair to the defendants. Defense counsel revealed that as of the material time of the publication, what his client published is true and the allegations in the publication are true and insisted that truth and justification are his defense.
The Honourable Justice Fisher ordered the defense council to respond to the affidavit of the applicant before the adjourned date. The applicant asked the defense council to show the parameters of truth. The matter was adjourned to Monday 3rd March 2025.
By Sahr Ibrahim Komba
