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Sierra Leone ALERT: Police violently assault radio journalist

Vivian Affoah
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Allieu Sesay, a broadcast journalist working with Freetown-based Radio Democracy,was reportedly assaulted on January 15, 2012 and briefly detained by some policemen drawn from the Operation Support Division (OSD) of the Sierra Leonean police. Sesay met his ordeal when covering the arrest of Aziz Carew, a constituency chairman of the opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) at his Fourah Bay home in the east of the capital Freetown. This was after a bye- election which resulted in violence.

Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent reported that the police accused the journalist of obstructing their (police)’s work.

“Thank God for the timely intervention of my boss at Radio Democracy, Asmaa James and President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, Umaru Fofana, who asked for my release. I am sick now,” Sesay told the correspondent. For more

For more information please contact:

Kwame Karikari (Prof)

Executive Director

MFWA

Accra

Tel: 233-30-22 4 24 70

Fax: 233-302-22 10 84

Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Website: www.mediafound.org

Ghana ALERT: National security officials violently assault photojournalist

Vivian Affoah
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Armed operatives of the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI), Ghana’s intelligence agency, on January 12, 2012 violently assaulted Ms. Gifty Lawson, a photojournalist of the Daily Guide, a privately-owned newspaper on the premises of the Human Rights Court in Accra.  Two security men of the newspaper, Michael Awampaga and Anthony Kwame Antwi, who were guarding her, suffered a similar fate. After their ordeal, Ms Lawson and Awampaga were bundled into the vehicle and detained at the BNI headquarters. Ms Lawson was released after an hour. Awampaga, however, is being held on trumped up charge of “slapping” one of the BNI operatives.

The Daily Guide team had gone to the court to cover a bail granted a senior police officer, a prime suspect in a missing cocaine scandal that hit the country. The BNI had detained the police officer beyond the 48 hours that the constitution allows. Confirming the attack to Media Foundation for West Africa’ (MFWA) Ms Lawson said the armed officers of the BNI violently attacked her and the two security guards after she took photographs of the accused person. She stated that one official pulled her by the trousers exposing parts of her body in the process and bundled her into their vehicle to the national headquarters of the BNI.

On January 11, Ms Lawson and Richard Sky, another reporter of the Accra-based Citi FM were attacked by persons suspected to be relatives of the accused. Ms Lawson, according to the privately-owned The Enquirer newspaper, was beaten up and her camera destroyed beyond repair. The attacks were in the presence of policemen who took no action. There has been widespread condemnation of the attack on the journalist. MFWA has in a statement called on the National Security Advisor and the Council of State to immediately bring to book officials of the BNI who violated the rights of three persons.

“The MFWA fears there is a concerted attempt by some security operatives to obstruct journalists from performing their duties, especially in the coverage of suspected drug criminals. The violent attack on the Daily Guide staff is one of many acts perpetrated by operatives of the BNI and the police officers to violate rights of journalists to do their legitimate work in recent years. Indeed, it should be noted that in the Fourth Republic, the BNI and the police have been the major and only source of attacks on the rights of journalists in Ghana” the MFWA statement said.

For more information please contact:

Kwame Karikari (Prof)

Executive Director

MFWA

Accra

Tel: 233-30-22 4 24 70

Fax: 233-302-22 10 84

Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Website: www.mediafound.org

Senegal UPDATE: Jailed opposition activist receives presidential pardon

Vivian Affoah
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Malick Noel Seck, an opposition youth activist in Senegal, was on January 11, 2012 given a presidential pardon, three months after his conviction on two counts of “contempt of court” and “insulting” President Abdoulaye Wade. Seck was jailed for two years on October 20, 2011 over a protest letter he wrote to the country’s Constitutional Court asking it to reject the third term candidacy of the incumbent, President Abdoulaye Wade, for the 2012 presidential election.

The Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent in Senegal reported that Seck, General Secretary for Socialist Convergence, a youth movement linked to the Senegalese Socialist party, served his sentence at the Tambacounda Prison in the south of Senegal.

Before the pardon, in the first week of January 2012, an Appeal Court in Dakar had reduced Seck’s sentence to a one year, four months of which were to be mandatory. Seck reportedly denounced the long silence of the Constitutional Court over attempts by President Wade to contest next month’s election after serving his second term in office.

According to the correspondent, during his trial in October 2011, Seck told the court that the letter he wrote was to sensitize the Constitutional Court and the Senegalese people on the immorality of President Wade’s candidacy.

“When we take to the streets, we will come in bigger numbers for you to account for your actions. Life is expensive, and so is death. Facing up to the situation requires dignity. No one will say we did not give you the opportunity to face up to us,” the protest letter that Seck wrote to members of the Constitutional Court said.

For more information please contact:

Kwame Karikari (Prof)

Executive Director

MFWA

Accra

Tel: 233-30-22 4 24 70

Fax: 233-302-22 10 84

Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Website: www.mediafound.org

Gambia ALERT: Newspaper journalist charged with criminal defamation

Vivian Affoah
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Mamadou S. Jallow, a reporter of privately-owned The Daily News newspaper is facing criminal defamation charges, for allegedly defaming Mamadou Lamin Baldeh, a local chief in the western part of The Gambia. Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) sources reported that Jallow was charged on January 9, 2012, three days after he was arrested and detained for about five hours at the Bansanng police station in Brikamaba, a town of about 250 kilometres from Banjul, the capital of The Gambia.

According to the sources, the journalist charges stemmed from an article headlined: “Presidential Hajj Package Scandal Chief Baldeh Allegedly Bribes Lover”, which appeared on the front-page of the newspaper on January 4, 2012. In the article, Boto Fatojo, a rice farmer who was together detained with Jallow accused Chief Baldeh of giving his Hajj ticket (a sponsorship from President Yahya Jammeh to embark on the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia), to his lover.

President Jammeh, a Muslim, has been sponsoring a number of Gambians to perform the annual Muslim rituals through the local authorities. “I was informed beforehand that a Hajj ticket was sent to me to go to Mecca, but the chief took it and gave it out to his lover,” alleged Boto.

In the same story, Chief Baldeh reportedly denied allegations against him. “I was phoned by Governor Ganyi Touray (of Central River Region) to identify one woman in my district to go to Mecca,” he explained. “And at the time of the phone call, I was with (the lady in question), so I gave the Hajj ticket to her.”

MFWA is appalled by the criminal prosecution of the journalist who did his work diligently in this story by carrying the other side of the story. We demand an immediate halt to this criminal prosecution.

For more information please contact:

Kwame Karikari (Prof)

Executive Director

MFWA

Accra

Tel: 233-30-22 4 24 70

Fax: 233-302-22 10 84

Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Website: www.mediafound.org

Liberia ALERT: Pro-opposition media attacked

Vivian Affoah
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Unidentified arsonists in the early hours of October 17, 2011 attacked the building housing a pro-opposition radio and TV stations.

Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent reported that the arsonists on board a red pick-up threw a petrol bomb in the building, destroying a storeroom where an old transmitter was kept; it took the timely intervention of the country’s National Fire Service to forestall further destruction of the two stations.

The stations, Love FM and Love TV are owned by Sarafina Ventures Company Limited, whose owner is a known supporter of opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC).

The correspondent said Joe Mulbah, the chief executive officer of the company claimed he received intelligence reports prior to the attack. Several of the stations’ reporters have also received death threats.

Although the motive for the attack was not clear, it is coming in the wake of an arson attack on the ruling Unity Party office over opposition discontent of the October 11 general election results which produced no clear winner.

“Right now we do not know if we will be able to do broadcasts in the hours to come. The police have started investigations,” Mulbah told the media.

The stations have raised doubts which prompted fears of unrest over the weekend after accusing the elections commission of rigging results.

Ghana ALERT: Newspaper reporter threatened with death

Vivian Affoah
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Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako, the Brong Ahafo Regional correspondent of an Accra-based privately-owned the Daily Guide newspaper has filed a complaint to the police in Sunyani, the capital over alleged death threats on him by thugs of Nana Kwasi Baffour Bosomprah II, Paramount Chief of Goaso, a town in the region.

“I recently filed a story about an alleged assault of a queen mother by the paramount chief (Nana Bosomprah). The Chief and his aides called me after the publication and threatened to kill me. Although I have lodged an official complaint with the police, I am still living in a state of fear because I do not know when they will strike,” said Amoako in an email to Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) on October 14, 2011.

The Daily Guide on October 12 reported that the thugs threatened to “shoot and kill” Amoako, anytime, anywhere they meet him.” This was after invoking the “names of powerful gods and river deities in the area to kill him”.

In an October 11 publication headlined: “Chief beats Queen Mother in Public” on page 2 of the Daily Guide, the newspaper alleged that Nana Bosomprah had been found guilty and fined by an investigating committee for denigrating the stool by fighting in public.

According to the newspaper, when they contacted Nana Bosomprah, he threatened to deal with them if they published any story about him since he had not committed any crime. He said the allegation was an attempt by his detractors to disgrace him, claiming the paper had been tasked by his enemies to tarnish his image.

On an Accra-based radio station, Nana Bosomprah said it was his boys who attacked the queen mother and that he was accepting responsibility for their actions

Ghana ALERT: Newspaper editor in detention

Vivian Affoah
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Prince Prah, editor of the DAYBREAK, an Accra-based weekly newspaper, is being held at the Greater Accra Regional office of the Bureau of National Investigations, (BNI), since his arrest at about 15 hours GMT on March 16, 2011.

Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) sources reported that Prah has refused to answer questions from his interrogators since he has no access to his counsel.

Although there are no official reasons for his arrest and subsequent detention, the sources said it might be due to a story that the newspaper published on December 15 and headlined:Going! Going!!…Chief Of Defence Staff On His Way Out? In which the newspaper alleged that its sources at the presidency had reliably informed them that there would be a massive shake-up at the top hierarchy of the military, which would affect Lieutenant General Peter Augustine Blay, Ghana ’s Chief of Defence Staff.

The MFWA condemns the arrest and subsequent detention of the editor and demands his immediate release

Bénin ALERT: Media regulatory body suspends nine newspapers for one week

Vivian Affoah
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Benin’s media regulatory body, the Higher Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HAAC) on March 10, 2011 suspended, for a week, nine privately-owned newspapers in the country over false and abusive publications.

The newspapers which include “Le Clairon”, “Le Béninois”, “L’Engagement”, “Les Scoops du jour”, “L’Audace Info”, “La Suite”, “La Nouvelle Tribune”, “Actu Express” and “Le Béninois Libéré” have been barred from publishing since March14.They are, however, expected back on the newsstands on March 20.

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s correspondent reported that the newspapers’ alleged offences were in violation of a February 1 HAAC directive regarding the mode of media campaigning during the just ended Presidential Elections and also, the country’s media code of ethics, which prohibits the media from publishing insults, baseless accusations and false information.

The correspondent said to ensure the enforcement of the ban, HAAC President, M. Théophile NATA, has also lodged a complaint at the state prosecutor’s department in accordance, with statutory provisions.

According to HAAC, the suspension emanated from the report of its monitoring team and that that the offending newspapers and the Watchdog for Professional Code of Conduct and Ethics for the Media in Benin (ODEM) have been duly notified.

Ghana ALERT: Police arrest five demonstrating teachers, thwart demonstration

Vivian Affoah
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Police in Accra on March 11, 2011 arrested and detained five members of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) who were demonstrating against a new pay policy introduced for public service workers in the country, saying, the policy was discriminatory against teachers in the country.

The five teachers, who were accused of fomenting trouble were released on the same day without any charges against them. They were among a number of GNAT members who accused the police of maltreating them by assaulting them with tear gas and rubber bullets to scuttle their peaceful march in support of their leaders to present a petition to the Ministry of Education

According to the police, the use of the tear gas was necessary to disperse the “lawless” teachers, who attacked the police with stones.

The Deputy Minister of Education, Mahama Ayariga, on March 12 offered an apology to the teachers. Ayariga, who was a panellist on a radio discussion programme on the Accra-based Independent Joy FM radio station said: “I will never support anything that involves the beating and throwing of teargas at teachers, and we at the Ministry of Education apologise to them for what has happened and we look forward to continuing to work with them to improve the welfare of teachers,” he stated.

On the same programme, the Police Public Affairs director, Superintendent Kwesi Ofori, justified the action of the police by saying that the police needed to use proportional force to ensure law and order.

“Looking at the nuisance and the uncomfortable traffic jam that obstructed public highway and restricted movement, the police had to take a decision to disperse the demonstrators in order to restore law and order and to protect lives and property,“ Supt. Ofori emphasized

Cote d’Ivoire ALERT: Investigative journalist in hiding after escaping kidnap attempt

Vivian Affoah
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André Silver Konan, an investigative journalist and a victim of several attacks from pro- Gbagbo forces, has gone into hiding after allegedly escaping a kidnap attempt on March 8, 2011.

In an email to the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s correspondent, Konan, a senior reporter with Le Nouveau Réveil, a pro-Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) daily said his life was in danger, hence his decision to flee.

The correspondent said although Konan did not provide the exact circumstances of the kidnapping attempt, he accused “militiamen of ex-President Laurent Gbagbo” of being behind this latest attack.

Konan, who is also a writer and known for his caustic criticism of the Gbagbo regime was in 2006 subjected to a 13-hour interrogation at the High Command of the national gendarmerie following an article he wrote and headlined,: “The 100 crimes of the Ivorian Popular Front Party (FPI) regime”.

He broke the story of the importation of toxic waste into the country allegedly by Gbagbo’s clan in August, 2006 that resulted in the deaths of some Ivoirians

That same year also, he accused the Gbagbo regime of ordering all publishing houses in the country not to publish his first book, “L’opposant historique” (The Historic Opponent), which describes the mischief of a character who bore a strange resemblance to Laurent Gbagbo.

In another development, four armed men believed to be members of the “invisible commando”, an insurgent group in Abobo , a northern suburb of Abidjan, the capital of Cote d’Ivoire, on March 14seized a vehicle belonging to Groupe Olympe, publishers of the privately-owned Soir Info and L’Inter newspapers as well as Star Magazine.

The MFWA correspondent reported that the four-well built men ordered the occupants out of the vehicle saying: “there were some wounded persons we have to rush to the hospital. Give us your vehicle. We shall return it to you later”. The four armed men then drove the vehicle in the opposite direction. They have since not returned the car.

Cote d’Ivoire ALERT: Pro-Gbagbo forces hold newspaper distribution workers hostage

Vivian Affoah
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Workers of Edipress, a newspaper distribution company in Cote d’Ivoire, have been held hostage on the company’s premises by armed personnel of Gbagbo-controlled Defence and Security Forces (FDS) of the Ivorian army since 20 hours GMT on March 10, 2011.

All the distribution vans of Edipress tasked to convey the March 11 newspapers are locked up at the premises.

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s correspondent reported that the action of the FDS is to prevent the circulation of Pro-Outarra newspapers which are likely to carry the latest outcome of the 265th meeting of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) held on March 10 reaffirming Alassane Ouattara as the President of the Country.

Earlier, the correspondent said the Gbagbo-controlled state-owned Ivorian Broadcasting Corporation (RTI) in its 8pm news misinformed the Ivorian public showing a representative of Gbagbo who said the meeting was ongoing. The UN radio had already announced that AU’s decision to recognise Ouattara as President.

Following the action of the FDS, the distributors have also refused to circulate pro-Gbagbo newspapers. Meanwhile, a meeting has been scheduled between the management of the Edipress and the FDS to find a solution to this problem.

Ghana UPDATE: Police invite MP for issuing death threats against editor

Vivian Affoah
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Kennedy Agyapong, an opposition politician and Member of Parliament for Assin North in the Central Region of Ghana, was on March 9, 2011 invited by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana police over death threats he allegedly made against Alhaji Iddrisu Bature, a former managing editor of the privately-owned Bilingual Free Press newspaper.

Alhaji Bature, who is now the editor of the Al-Hajj newspaper, brought the complaint against the MP after he (the MP) on Febuary 19 allegedly threatened to “kill” him. The threats followed an argument between the two on a local language radio programme on Asempa FM, an Accra-basedradio station, on February 18.

Agyapong told Joy FM, an Accra-based independent radio station, shortly after meeting the police that two CID officials only asked him to submit a written statement on the issue, and that the meeting was cordial.

The MP added that his threats were in reaction to Alhaji Bature, also a sympathizer of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), who has consistently insulted his family members by linking them to drug trafficking.

According to Joy FM, scores of Agyapong’s supporters, who believed the MP’s invitation was politically motivated, besieged the premises of the CID to show solidarity with him.

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