By: Amara Thoronka
Opposition politician, Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden who is a member of the main opposition party, the All People’s Congress (APC) has taken legal action against the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU-EOM) for what she describes as ‘malicious and defamatory publication’ against her in the EU-EOM final report on Sierra Leone’s multitier elections held on 24th June, 2023.
The European Union Election Observation Mission recently presented their final report on the country’s elections to President Julius Maada Bio at State House.
In their report, the EU-EOM stated, among other things, that Dr. Blyden was friendly to First Lady Fatima Bio but contemptuous to some members of her very own party – the APC.
“As for party affiliation, it was not easy to establish. For example, APC party member, Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, at the beginning of the campaign, showed growing friendship to the First Lady (SLPP), and at the same time, showed growing contempt for some of the members ofherown party,” an excerpt of the EU-EOM report states on page 74.
Again on Dr. Blyden, the report on page 81 cited that Dr. Blyden bought more political or campaign advertisements, adding that she is now associated with the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP).
“Only 32 political advertisements were bought during campaign period by the political actors, among them, 28 ads [advertisements] were bought by the APC politician, currently aligned with the SLPP (Sylvia Olayinka Blyden).”
In response to the said publication, in which she seems to be unfavourably mentioned, Dr. Blyden on Monday, 16thOctober, 2023, filed a writ of sermon at the High Court of Sierra Leone.
“I have just filed a WRIT OF SUMMONS at the High Court of Sierra Leone against Chief Observer EvinIncir, Deputy Chief Observer Inta Lase, Social Media Analyst Lukasz Wilda Domaradzki, Legal Analyst Sylvian Ollier and the European Union Elections Observation Mission (EU-EOM) itself for their malicious, defamatory publications against me,” she confirmed in a post on her official Facebook handle.
Going through her Facebook post confirming the legal action, it is safe to say Dr. Blyden intends to seek long intense redress in both the jurisdiction of Sierra Leone and that of the European Union.
“The legal papers that I filed today in Freetown, are just the first of several legal steps that I plan to diligently take; including to file for a restoration of my right to my reputation at the European Court of Human Rights in France,” she disclosed.
In another related Facebook post on Monday, 16th October, Dr. Blyden revealed that the full particulars of her claims will be filed within 14 Days.
The document filed at the High Court by Dr. Blyden (Plaintiff) against the Defendants (EvinIncir, Inta Lase, Lukasz Wilda-Domaradski, Sylvian Ollier& the EU-EOM for 2023 Sierra Leone Elections) claims damages against the Defendants for libel contained in a report published by the Defendants claiming the following: “𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕𝑫𝒓. 𝑺𝒚𝒍𝒗𝒊𝒂𝑶𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒂𝑩𝒍𝒚𝒅𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍–𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒅, 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒅–𝒖𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝑨𝒍𝒍𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒔 ‘𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒅’ 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒕𝒉𝒆𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕’𝒔𝑺𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒂𝑳𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚; that𝑫𝒓. 𝑺𝒚𝒍𝒗𝒊𝒂𝑶𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒂𝑩𝒍𝒚𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕$504𝒐𝒏 28 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝑺𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒂𝑳𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 2023 𝑬𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝑪𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 23𝒓𝒅𝑴𝒂𝒚 2023 𝒕𝒐 22𝒏𝒅𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒆 2023 (𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒅); t𝒉𝒂𝒕𝑫𝒓. 𝑺𝒚𝒍𝒗𝒊𝒂𝑶𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒂𝑩𝒍𝒚𝒅𝒆𝒏 “𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒏” 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 “𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑” 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒚 (𝑺𝑳𝑷𝑷) 𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 “𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕” 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒆𝑨𝑷𝑪.”
The document bearing Dr. Blyden’sclaims also notes that, “The 1st, 2nd , 3rd, 4th and 5th Defendants, who used the European Union Elections Observers Mission (EU-EOM) to internationally and locally publish a report making the claims in Paragraph One, be ordered to retract the broadcasted and circulated libellous statements in English, Krio and any other language that the report has been published; adding that, “The 1st, 2nd , 3rd, 4th and 5th Defendants be ordered to issue an Apology to the Plaintiff Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden for the said defamatory statements; the content of which Apology should be procured by the Plaintiff and approved by the court.”
It added that, “An Injunction restraining the Defendants and their servants or agents or privies or howsoever called, from further broadcasting, publication of the said defamatory statements and any other matter touching and concerning the Plaintiff.”
Dr. Blyden’s filed claims at the High Court also asked for“Punitive Damages, general damages, any further or other relief(s) that the Honourable Court may deem fit and just, and costs.”
EU-EOM final report covers a range of pre-polling, polling and post-polling issues, among which Dr. Blyden is mentioned.
As Dr. Blyden seeks legal redress in Sierra Leone and possibly the European Court of Human Rights, many await to see what will come out of such case, considering possible diplomatic immunity for the said election observers on the one hand and the right of Dr. Blyden to protect her reputation on the other hand.
Copy right –Printed in the Expo Times Week end Newspaper on Friday 13th October, 2023 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
