By Sabrina Mahtani | Executive Director
Thanks to your generous support, AdvocAid has been able to fund lawyers and paralegals in Sierra Leone to provide legal advice and or representation to 343 girls and women!
The funds raised via Global Giving have funded 2 of our Duty Lawyers in Freetown (the capital) and in Makeni (Northern region) as well as paralegals in Freetown, Western Rural, Makeni and Kenema. Your support also enabled us to hire an additional paralegal, Baindu Koroma, to provide legal aid in Bo and Moyamba (Southern Region) and a trainee paralegal to provide additional support in Freetown as well as continue to support Alimamy Koroma, a law student who is volunteering with us.
Sierra Leone currently has no official legal aid scheme and AdvocAid is often the only organization that can provide this level of access to justice service for girls and women in need. Examples of the impact of our services are below:
Joseph Samura, our Trainee Paralegal, encountered a young woman at the Magistrates Court in Freetown. A lady had given her some cosmetics to sell (worth around $150) but the money was stolen from her. She begged the lady for time to repay the money but the lady reported her to East End Police Station where she was detained for 7 days. (The law states that suspects can only be held for 3 days for non-serious offences). Joseph was able to mediate the case, resulting in the lady dropping the court case.
Marvel Lombi, our Freetown Paralegal, encountered two women and a man who had been held for 2 days in police detention in February 2014. They explained that their Uncle was a key suspect in a criminal case and that one of the ladies had stood as surety for him so that he could be released on bail. Their Uncle died in December 2013 and because they could not “produce” their Uncle as part of the bail conditions they were arrested. Their relatives brought a copy of the death certificate but the police were unwilling to release them as they doubted the authenticity of the death certificate. Our paralegal was able to raise this matter with the Local Unit Commander who was able to verify the death certificate and ensure that the family members were released.
Your support also assisted with the launch of our legal education song, Nar Yu Right, by leading hip hop artist, Star Zee. Star Zee performed a special concert in Freetown Female Prison to mark International Human Rights Day on 10 December 2013 where we filmed the first ever music video in a female prison in conjunction with Concept Multimedia. The aim of the song is to educate women about their rights in the criminal justice system and to create awareness of domestic violence, a main factor behind women's imprisonment. It also raises awareness about the many women forgotten behind prison walls. You can purchase the song on Amazon or iTunes and proceeds will support AdvocAid’s work.
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