Monrovia/Freetown, April 27 -- As Liberia and Sierra Leone continue their fragile recovery from years of civil conflict, a series of high-profile prosecutions and disciplinary actions in both countries is raising alarm among civil society groups and regional observers about a possible rollback of free speech and political dissent.

By Gerald C. Koinyeneh, gerald.koinyeneh@frontpageafricaonline.com

In Liberia, the recent expulsion of Representative Yekeh Kolubah, the six-month imprisonment of social media influencer Justine Oldpa Yeazeahn, widely known as Prophet Key, and the sentencing of entertainer and political activist Zainab Sheriff to four years and two months in prison in Sierra Leone have intensified criticism over both governmen...