(MFWA/IFEX) – Christopher Serlom Adzivor, Volta regional correspondent of “The Independent”, a tri-weekly Accra-based independent newspaper, was violently attacked and detained on 11 November 2006 by Lance Corporal Badu, a police officer at the Ho municipal police station. The journalist alleges that Badu ordered the inmates in the police cells to “teach him a lesson”, […]
(MFWA/IFEX) – Christopher Serlom Adzivor, Volta regional correspondent of “The Independent”, a tri-weekly Accra-based independent newspaper, was violently attacked and detained on 11 November 2006 by Lance Corporal Badu, a police officer at the Ho municipal police station.
The journalist alleges that Badu ordered the inmates in the police cells to “teach him a lesson”, following which the inmates kicked him, attempted to force him to drink urine, and handled his genitals.
Adzivor told MFWA that, at about 6:30 p.m. (local time) on the night of the incident, he accompanied Margaret Agebedzordzi, a 20-year-old student, to the police station. The student had threatened to commit suicide following an attempt by her mother to force her into marriage.
Adzivor said Agebedzordzi left out certain vital details while making her statement, and when Adzivor drew her attention to these omissions, the police officer allegedly asked him to “shut up, walk out of the station. Journalists are too known”. Badu then assaulted Adzivor, striking him and dragging him across the floor.
When Adzivor then stated he wished to lodge a complaint and required medical attention, Badu locked him in a holding cell.
Adzivor further alleged that he was forced to sign a statement claiming that he had slapped a policeman, before being granted bail at 2:00 a.m.
The Volta Regional Police Commander, Bernard Derry, has since instituted an investigation into the matter.
The editor of “The Independent”, Andrew Edwin Arthur, told MFWA that they are waiting for the investigations to proceed.
The Volta regional Branch of the Ghana Journalists Association has also condemned the attack.
On the same day, 11 November, some 27 journalists were heckled and mistreated by armed policemen while covering a press conference. One of the journalists, Patrick Fynn, a photographer with the “Daily Graphic”, had his digital camera seized and destroyed (see previous IFEX alert of 17 November 2006).
MFWA is gravely concerned about the increasing frequency of physical attacks, harassment and the intimidation of journalists by police personnel. At least seven incidents of such actions against journalists by the police, who have a constitutional obligation to protect citizens including journalists, have come to the attention of MFWA since the beginning of 2006.
MFWA is particularly concerned about the lack of action taken to hold the responsible to account for these actions.
