(MFWA/IFEX) – On 4 July 2005, an Accra high court sentenced Frank Boahene, editor of the independent “Free Press” newspaper, based in Accra, to 15 days in prison for contempt of court. Two of the newspaper’s directors, Claude Decker and Thomas Kpakpo Thompson, also received the same sentence. The charge of contempt arises from the […]
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 4 July 2005, an Accra high court sentenced Frank Boahene, editor of the independent “Free Press” newspaper, based in Accra, to 15 days in prison for contempt of court.
Two of the newspaper’s directors, Claude Decker and Thomas Kpakpo Thompson, also received the same sentence.
The charge of contempt arises from the failure of the editor and his directors to appear in court for a hearing on 29 June.
The “Free Press” published a series of allegedly libelous articles against Agnes Sikanartey, regional police commander of Tema, a harbour city near Accra.
Consequently, on 1 November 2004, the court ruled against the “Free Press” and awarded Sikanartey 80 million cedis (approx. US$9,000) in damages. The newspaper was further ordered to retract the articles and offer a front-page apology to be published continuously in three issues of the newspaper, beginning one week after the date of the ruling.
However, the defendants refused to comply with the court’s order and only published a retraction once, in the paper’s 8-14 November 2004 edition.
According to the authorities, the editor and the paper’s management did not file a motion to contest the application brought against them. When the court brought the case to Boahene’s attention, he responded that his lawyer would meet him in court on the day of the hearing. Nevertheless, neither the respondents nor their lawyers appeared in court on 29 June.
Accordingly, the court found Boahene, Decker and Kpakpo Thompson liable for contempt and sentenced them. The journalists are currently serving the 15-day sentence at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison, about 35 kilometres north of Accra.
