Sierra Leone police hunt activists after raiding gay party

Two West African LGBTQIA+ rights activists are on the run after they managed to escape a police raid on a private gay party in Sierra Leone.

Police raided the Hill Valley Hotel in the Signal Hill district of Freetown on August 30, arresting dozens of men at a private party that they allege were involved in “same-sex activities.”

According to a Sierra Leone Police report, the party had been organised by “one homosexual gay man” named “Nathan” and was “intended as a rare safe space for LGBTQ individuals.”

“During this gathering, people were engaging in consensual sexual activities, as many LGBTQ individuals have no safe or private locations to express intimacy in Sierra Leone.

“It was also one of the few opportunities for LGBTQ members to spend intimate time with their partners/boyfriends.”

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The details of the raid

Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department arrived at the location following a tip-off from a member of the public.

However, it was “difficult for the officers to locate the particular hotel where the said activities were taking place as it was late in the evening.”

Officers chose to focus on the Hill Valley Hotel as it appeared to be the busiest, and when they entered the hotel they arrested dozens of young men on suspicion of “male same sexual activities and buggery.”

According to the police report, “several other suspects fled away including Edwin Bolanji Deen.”

Deen is an activist with West African LGBTQIA+ rights NGO Pride Equality, and his partner, George Reginald Freeman, is the group’s executive director.

An eyewitness account

Freeman also managed to escape the police raid and gave an account that was published by 76 Crimes.

“In the middle of the night, about ten police officers stormed in, while some 50 or 60 guests were gathered there,” Freeman wrote.

“It was clearly an anti-gay raid, and the police were apparently looking for condoms and lubricants or other incriminating evidence that might justify the presence of a police patrol.

“Since there were two exits in the hotel, most of us were able to escape. Nevertheless, some people were arrested. At this point, I cannot say how many people were taken into police custody.”

Police attended Deen’s Freetown home the day after the party, and returned the following day with an arrest warrant but did not find him at home.

A backwards step for Sierra Leone

Homosexuality is illegal in Sierra Leone under an 1861 British colonial-era law, attracting up to life in prison.

However, the law had rarely been enforced in recent years, and as recently as 2023, Sierra Leone passed an anti-discrimination law against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in employment.

In 2011, it was also one of only five African countries to support the United Nations “Joint Statement on Ending Acts of Violence Related Human Rights Violations Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.”

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