Stop Assault on Journalists-GJA(Centre Spread) Jnue 10, 2008

Story: Michael Donkor

THE President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr Ransford Tetteh, has appealed to all stakeholders to desist from assaulting journalists in the discharge of their legitimate duties.
He said anybody who disagreed with the work of a journalist was entitled to make his opinion either through a rejoinder or make a complaint to the National Media Commission (NMC) for redress.
He said these physical attacks on journalists had the potential to mar the coveted image of Ghana as one of the most media-friendly countries in Africa.
Mr Tetteh made the appeal when the executive members of the GJA presented a petition to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joe Ghartey, and the Speaker of Parliament on the alleged attack on the Central Regional Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Joe Okyere, by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Constituency and former Central Regional Minister, Mr Isaac Edumadze.
The petition called on Parliament to investigate and take appropriate action concerning the role played by Mr Edumadze in assaulting Mr Okyere while that of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice called on him to speed up action on the case concerning the assault when the police complete their investigations and submits the docket to the Attorney-General’s office.
Mr Tetteh explained that the GJA had decided to seek redress through the two statutory bodies of the country to send the right signals to all that it was always appropriate to use legal means to seek relief for wrongs done to anybody in society and that the resort to assault in the face of provocation was not helpful in any democratic dispensation.
He said the 2007 worldwide Press Freedom Ranking of Reporteur San Frontier (Reporters without Borders) ranked Ghana third in Africa after Mauritius and Namibia.
He said this country ranked 29th out of a total of 169 countries in the world, even above some developed democracies such as the United States of America, France, Italy and Japan and called on all citizens to sustain this record by tolerating divergent views.
Mr Tetteh said the GJA took a serious view of the incident at Mr Edumadze’s residence and believed a speedy action from the end of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice on the completion of investigation by the police and Parliament would be a good signal that the country was irreversibly committed to the rule of law.
He said the GJA was also worried that these attacks could likely undermine the progress the country had made in democratic development since the Fourth Republic.
Mr Tetteh said the GJA, following reports of the incident, sent a fact-finding mission to Cape Coast on May 29, 2008.
It was led by the General-Secretary, Mr Bright Blewu, and made up of the Treasurer, Mrs Yaa Oforiwaa Asare-Peasah; and Legal Advisors, Mr Kwasi Afriyie Badu and Mrs Marian Kyei, both members of the association.
He said information gathered by the fact-finding mission indicated that the incident took place on the premises of Mr Isaac Edumadze’s house at Ejumako-Ochiso.
Mr Tetteh said in separate accounts, Mr Philip Baidoo of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, who had taken Joe Okyere to Mr Edumazde’s house, said he personally witnessed agents of Mr Edumadze beat up Mr Okyere mercilessly on the explicit instructions of Mr Edumadze while Mr Okyere on the other hand insisted that the attack was led by the MP himself.
Mr Joe Ghartey described the situation as unfortunate but said under the Constitution the Attorney-General’s office had no right to investigate cases but only to prosecute.
He said when the news of the alleged assault broke out, his outfit referred the matter to the Inspector General of Police for investigation.
Mr Ghartey gave the assurance that the law would not be twisted and added that the government was committed to the Universal Human Rights and would do everything possible to uphold it.
He said the Attorney-General’s office would take the necessary action after the investigations by the police.
He proposed that a Human Rights Committee, to be co-chaired by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and the President of the GJA with four members each from the two bodies, be established to address complaints of assault, particularly those involving the ordinary Ghanaian.
Mr Ghartey said in the interim, anybody who would suffer any assault should call the Human Rights hotline, 0273448788 or 0245623434 to make complaints.
At Parliament house, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Freddie Blay, received the petition on behalf of the Speaker of Parliament.
He commended the GJA for respecting the laws of the land and going through the right processes to seek redress.
He gave the assurance that the petition would be handed over to the Speaker for a speedy redress of the matter.
Mr Blay called on all politicians to respect journalists and see them as partners in nurturing the country’s infant democracy.