International | Vigilante justice

The alternative to bad cops can be worse

A tale of crime and punishment from Sierra Leone

|FREETOWN

A MAN came too close and asked for directions. Your correspondent noticed that he had stolen her mobile phone. She alerted a woman running a nearby cigarette stall. A crowd quickly assembled by the road, and decided to take the law into its own hands.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Mobs and robbers”

The threat to world trade

From the March 10th 2018 edition

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