By: Ewoenam Kpodo | Voltaonlinegh.com |
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has called on the Police Administration to for once, punish police officers involved in an alleged attack on journalists to “serve as deterrent to others and redeem the image of the Ghana Police Service from the shameful tag of a brutish institution.”
The call followed an alleged attack on three Ghanaian Times reporters namely: Malik Sulemana, Salifu Abdul Rahman and Raissa Sambou Ebu who were on their way for an official assignment on Thursday morning.
In a statement signed by the President of GJA, Affail Monney, the police must carry out investigations into Thursday’s incident which he described as barbaric and punish the culprits.
“We call on the Police Administration to undertake swift investigations into the incident and, for once, punish the perpetrators of such heinous crime.
“This incident must not be added to the list of unresolved cases of assault against journalists by police officers. This culture of impunity must end now,” he added.
Narrating the incident, the statement said a police officer on an unregistered motorbike, jumped trafficked and hit a Nissan saloon car belonging to the Ghanaian Times near the Kinbu Traffic, breaking the mirror and windscreen, then sped off.
The statement continued that driver of the vehicle chased and caught up with the police officer and Malik started video-recording the incident with his mobile phone which attracted the fury of the officer who punched his face causing blood to gush out from his nostril.
It further indicated that “other police officers and a soldier in uniform allegedly joined in the beating of the reporter, pushing, kicking, slapping and punching him” while “the other reporters in the vehicle – Salifu Abdul Rahaman and Raissa Sambou Ebu – were also heckled, and in the process, Raissa, a nursing mother, collapsed and was rushed to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital for treatment.”
Subsequently, Malik was handcuffed and sent to the Ministries Police Station where he was detained for hours and subjected to further assault.
The statement added that it took the intervention of ACP David Eklu, the Director-General of Public Affairs Directorate of the Ghana Police Service, and ASP Efia Tenge, the Accra Region Police Public Relations Officer to save the reporter from more torture.”
The Association said such assaults by the police who are supposed to be law enforcers must not be condoned saying, “twenty-seven years into our democratic dispensation, it is important for the police to appreciate that we live under the rule of law and not the rule of the jungle.”
The GJA reiterated its resolve to “seek justice for all journalists who have been assaulted by police officers in the past” and called on all well-meaning Ghanaians to join in condemning police brutality.
Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com
