Jamal is 16. He is from Sierra Leone. He was attending secondary school until he was arrested on suspicion of stealing money from his family.
In December 2007 he was sent to the adult maximum-security prison in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, as there was no room in the remand home. He was moved to the remand home two weeks later and has now been there over 4 months. The only way he can get out is if a relative pays his bail. He is hoping his uncle will come and bail him at the next court appearance. But his uncle refuses to appear before the court.
Jamal wants to go back to school. The only person visiting him is his brother. His father has passed away and his mum and stepdad don’t visit. Jamal used to live with them, but they didn’t look after him well. They couldn’t pay for his schooling. He doesn’t know where he will go whenever he gets out.
