Chief Minister Dr David Moinina Sengeh has raised fresh questions about fairness between Sierra Leone and the Netherlands over wanted persons.
Speaking on AYV’s State of the Nation, he pointed to Sierra Leone’s earlier efforts to bring back a Sierra Leonean known as Adebayor, whom the government has described as a terrorist.
“When we wanted to get a Sierra Leonean in Holland here, we sent the Attorney-General there. We sent the Foreign Affairs Minister there. The terrorist, yeah, we called him a terrorist, Adebayor. We went there. They refused extradition. We sent delegations there. Have they given us that due respect to come?”
The comments come as the Netherlands continues to press for the return of Dutch national Jos Leijdekkers, also known as Bolle Jos. Dutch courts sentenced him in his absence to 24 years for large-scale cocaine trafficking and ordering a killing. He remains one of the most wanted men in the Netherlands.
Dr Sengeh said Sierra Leone’s security intelligence does not know where Leijdekkers is and challenged anyone claiming otherwise to provide proof.
“Hand on heart, our security intelligence does not know where Leijdekkers is. We cannot go by what these guys are saying… If they know, show the pictures.”
Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel has made it clear that his country will keep applying pressure until Leijdekkers is caught and jailed.
“We will continue our efforts to put pressure and make sure that, in the end, the only way for this to continue is with the incarceration of Mr. Leijdekkers.”
Van Weel also noted that talks on an extradition treaty between the two countries have been going on for more than a year but remain slow.
The matter has become a clear test of how Sierra Leone and the Netherlands handle serious crime cases across borders.
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