Deaf and dumb traders clash with police

By Ibrahim Kallon, Freetown.

The Legal Aid Board recently sent Mr. Bankolay Morgan who is a member of the ADR Panel to advocate for bail for deaf and dumb petty traders within the Freetown Municipality that allegedly went into a fight with the police and failed to adhere to the law.

According to report by Morgan, the deaf and dumb traders went into fight with a police officer who was about to stop them from trading on Sunday. After the said incident, they were taken to the Eastern Police Division to be detained and later charged to court but Morgan pleaded on their behalf to the police. He told the police that taking into cognizance their abnormal situation, it is but not in the interest of the state and their families not to convict them because they’re physically challenged and should not to be jailed.

After the plea by Morgan, the police became reasonable and released them on the grounds that they should be cautioned for such behavior not to occur again.

The Legal Aid Board has a mandate is to give legal advice, assistance and education to the people and because of that, the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board Madam Claire Calton Hanciles called on the Association of the Deaf and Dumb to caution their members who are traders on how they should abstain from getting into conflicts with the law.

She told them that she will engage with the relevant authorities including His Excellency the President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma for the lift of the ban on Deaf and Dumb traders for a particular period of time on Sundays. She said she understood the difficult situations they go through to feed themselves and their relatives and promised that the Board will will do everything necessary to make them feel safe and privileged irrespective of their status.

To end the outdoor meeting, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Chief Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara also engaged the deaf and dumb on the importance of respecting the law as it has no favoritism. He reminded them that the ban on Sunday marketing was imposed by His Excellency the President and they should respect his prerogatives.

He warned them not take the law into their hands by fighting with the police when there is a misunderstanding but to keep the peace and comport themselves. He later promised to see how the government will put modalities in place for the deaf and dumb traders.

The President of the Deaf and Dumb Association Mr. Alhaji Lahai Vangaun on behalf of his colleagues thanked the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice for exhibiting their concern to them even though they’re disabled. He also promised that he will talk to his colleagues to be law abiding always.

The conversation between the deaf and dumb and the authorities at the meeting was interpreted by a female Sign Language Interpreter for the Deaf and Dumb Association (seen in photo with head scarf).