Sierra Leone activists reach Spain, fleeing arrest and death threats
George Freeman and Edwin Deen felt ‘trapped, unprotected, and overwhelmed’
By Colin Stewart
and Moïse Manoël-Florisse
Reportedly hunted by police, scorned by family and evicted by their landlady, two LGBTQ+ rights activists from Sierra Leone have fled the country and and reached safety in Spain.
George Reginald Freeman Browne, the executive director of the LGBT+ rights organization Pride Equality, and his partner, fellow activist Edwin Bolaji Deen reportedly have been wanted by Sierra Leone police since Aug. 30, when police reportedly raided a party that Freeman and Deen attended.
With help from Jean-Marc Berthon, the French ambassador for the rights of LGBT people, a visa was granted to Deen for travel to Barcelona, Spain. Freeman has Spanish citizenship, so he did not need one.
In a message to Berthon, Freeman wrote, “Both Edwin and I are overwhelmed with relief and gratitude. Words cannot fully express how much your guidance, advocacy, and steadfast support during this terrifying crisis have meant to us. When we felt completely stranded, stressed, and hopeless, your help gave us the direction and protection we so desperately needed. …
“The support and intervention from the French Embassy reaching out directly to the Spanish Embassy on our behalf made a pivotal difference in securing this outcome and ensuring Edwin’s safety.”
[Editor’s note: What actually happened on Aug. 30 is unclear. The Sierra Leone newspaper Daybreak News removed from its website both an article describing the raid and related documents related to Freeman and and Deen. Erasing 76 Crimes has written to that newspaper, seeking an explanation. A separate human rights organization in Sierra Leone, the Human Rights Defenders Network-SL, has stated that the reported raid and arrests did not happen and that the online police documents were fakes. Whatever did or did not occur on Aug. 30, Freeman and Deen fled abroad, saying that they had received death threats and that, after their departure, letters from police arrived at their home.]
According to online documents labeled as Sierra Leone arrest warrants, police sought the arrest of Freeman and Deen on charges of “homosexuality (gay) and LGBTI [or LGBTQ] social activity”. The documents state that police claimed the pair’s work was “likely to cause the breach of the peace” and offered a “handsome” reward for information leading to their arrests.
From outside Sierra Leone, Freeman updated Erasing 76 Crimes about what has occurred after the events described in our previous article on Sept. 6. Those subsequent events include the death of Deen’s father, which his family blames on Deen.
Freeman wrote on Sept. 10:
“I am writing to update you on our situation, which has taken a severe turn for the worse over the last few days. The pressure and dangers surrounding Edwin and me are escalating rapidly, and we are extremely stressed and fearful for our safety.
“We continue to receive constant calls from family and friends warning us never to return to Sierra Leone. Even more concerning, we are getting continuous death threats and warning calls on WhatsApp from unknown phone numbers.
“Edwin’s mother and his entire family are now blaming and accusing him of causing his father’s death. Following the article published by Daybreak Newspaper [on Sept. 3, which is no longer online], the police have been conducting constant raids and harassing his family to force them to produce Edwin. His mother confirmed that his father suffered immense emotional shock, distress, and disappointment before passing away. Despite his death, police visits and pressure on the family have not stopped.
“Today our landlady from the flat in Sierra Leone where we rented called us via WhatsApp. She called us ‘bloody homosexuals,’ told us never to return to the apartment, and stated that if we do, she will call the police to arrest us immediately. She declared our lease terminated, forfeiting the two years of rent we had already paid.
“We feel completely trapped, unprotected, and overwhelmed right now. Edwin is under immense psychological stress from both the loss of his father and the accusations from his family, ….
“We are deeply grateful for your continued support during this nightmare.”
The contrasting account of events came from Alphonsus B.M. Gbanie, executive secretary of the Human Rights Defenders Network-SL. He stated that Sierra Leone Police (SLP) have “denied any arrest of members of the gay population” and denied issuing “a declaration of 2 wanted individuals.”
“Similarly, we visited the Hill Valley Hotel where the alleged incident took place as per the publication. The management confirmed that no such incident occurred in the hotel on that particular day and, besides, the hotel is not in operation. We also contacted the Dignity Association, a civil society organisation that deals with the gay population, to corroborate the information; the organisation is equally not aware of any such incident,” he stated.
In an interview from Spain, Freeman said he and Deen attended the Aug. 30 party and witnessed the police raid before exiting in order to avoid arrest. He was invited to the party, did not organize it, and did not know whether the Hill Valley Hotel was functioning as a hotel at the time, he said.
He also provided a sample of his handwriting — writing on camera during a video call — to show that the disputed online documents were not forged by him.
