Four major banner-carriers in the media have expressed concerns about the apparent resurrection of the discredited criminal libel regime through series of arrests and prosecutions of Journalists for statements they have made or published in the media recently.
The Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), and the Private Newspaper And Online Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), at a press conference, yesterday, reiterated their resentment at what they say is the growing use of the prosecutorial and judicial power of the State to punish and criminalize speeches that allegedly, falsely injures or damages the reputation of other persons or institutions of state.
Addressing the media, President of the GJA, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, indicated that as stakeholders, they were concerned about the use of the Electronic Communications Act as well as the Criminal and Other Offences Act, to arrest citizens and journalists and prefer criminal charges against them, whereas the offences are merely defamatory and for which civil remedies available.
The press conference was triggered by the recent detention for seven days, Noah Nartey Dameh of Radio Ada, on false publication charges in connection with a critical Facebook post he made.
“As you must all have read or heard in the news, Dameh posted on his Facebook wall that the police had abused one Benjamin Anim, a citizen of Ada and a patient at a hospital, by chaining him to his hospital bed. The post was accompanied by a picture of the chained Anim alongside a picture of businessman Daniel McCorley (McDan) whom the journalist accused of instigating the police action,” he said.
Following this post, which was made in May 2022, the police summoned Dameh, claiming that one Bernard Korley, a cousin of McDan, had filed a defamation complaint against him (Dameh). The journalist was briefly detained and granted bail. After reporting to the police several times and a couple of court appearances, Dameh was in December 2022, freed by the Tema Magistrate Court which dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction. However, the police re-arrested the journalist immediately after he stepped out of the courtroom. They charged him with publishing false news under section 208 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), before granting him bail.
On March 30, 2023, the court remanded Dameh for two weeks at the request of the prosecutor who said his surety had failed to produce him in court on three previous occasions. Meanwhile, the journalist had received no notification regarding the said previous sittings. He was released on bail on April 7, 2023, after spending a week in detention.
According to the GJA president, it is about time authorities put an end to the criminal prosecution of citizens for alleged defamatory publications, stressing that during the heydays of the criminal libel law in the 1990s, the criminal law was used in precisely the way it is now being used- to prosecute and punish journalists and public speakers- for allegedly false or defamatory statements against certain family members or associates of the President.
He recounted the arrest of other journalists in the past which prompted a number of statesmen, academics and civil rights activists to raise concerns about the apparent introduction through the backdoor of criminal libel, which was repealed in 2001.
Albert Kwabena Dwumfour said they found it sarcastic that a government presided by Nana Akufo-Addo, who is much promoted as a human rights and press freedom champion, is supervising the surreptitious reintroduction of criminal libel through the use of the ‘criminal laws.’
“Indeed, the repression of freedom of expression using the law on false publication likely to cause fear and panic undercuts the publicly expressed view of President Akufo-Addo. Speaking on the topic “Outlawing Criminal Libel Laws” during a conference at the University of Pretoria in August 2011, Nana Akufo-Addo lamented that such laws are susceptible to broad and abusive interpretation.”
In one incident, he said, the police arrested Kwabena Bobie Ansah, a presenter with Accra FM, on February 10, 2022, and charged him with publishing “false news and offensive conduct.” The police detained the journalist, who had alleged that First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo had illegally acquired state land for private use.
This and other similar incidents prompted a number of statesmen, academics and civil rights activists to raise concerns about the apparent introduction through the backdoor of criminal libel, which was repealed in 2001. Incidentally, the current president, Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, then Attorney General, played a crucial role in the process of repealing the obnoxious law.
He mentioned that press freedom environment is deteriorating and that the abuse of the two controversial laws has contributed massively to the deterioration and that efforts must be made to bring a positive change with those laws.
The group therefore called on the government to adequately resource the National Media Commission to effectively carry out its mandate of monitoring and regulating media content in a proactive manner, whilst stressing their commitment to promoting professional standards in the media.
They also urged all journalists and media houses to uphold the highest level of integrity and professionalism since they will not hesitate to call out any journalist or media organization that indulges in flagrant violation of the professional ethics and standards.
Since the beginning of 2022, a number of journalists and one civil society activist have been prosecuted in Ghana using the Electronic Communications Act and the Criminal Code, specifically Section 208 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
