Campaigners hail historic Sierra Leone move to end death penalty

Lawmakers vote to repeal the death penalty more than 20 years after the country’s last execution.

Human rights campaigners have hailed a “historic” decision by Sierra Leone’s Parliament to unanimously vote to abolish the death penalty, more than 20 years after the West African country carried out its last execution. Following Friday’s vote, President Julius Maada Bio is expected to soon sign the bill into law, which will make Sierra Leone the 23rd African country to repeal capital punishment. “The road ahead is still long and difficult. Yet as a nation we can now be proud to know that the death penalty is no longer in our books,” said Basita Michael, founder of Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy for Justice (ILRAJ) and former president of the Sierra Leone Bar Association.