(WAJA/IFEX) – On 13 January 2000 at 10:00 p.m. (local time), Kabral Blay Amihere, president of WAJA and executive member of the International Federation of Journalists, was picked up in the middle of a journey by armed military personnel. The military claimed that the arrest was due to a publication that appeared in “The Independent” […]
(WAJA/IFEX) – On 13 January 2000 at 10:00 p.m. (local time), Kabral Blay Amihere, president of WAJA and executive member of the International Federation of Journalists, was picked up in the middle of a journey by armed military personnel.
The military claimed that the arrest was due to a publication that appeared in “The Independent” newspaper, which he edits.
The army waylaid Blay-Amihere as if he was a common criminal, and he was locked up among criminals at a military camp in Accra, Ghana’s capital city, until morning.
No charges were laid against Blay-Amihere, but he was asked to publish a rejoinder, which the army had prepared. He was released at about 11 a.m. on Friday 14 January.
Under the 1992 constitution of Ghana, complaints against the media are channelled through the National Media Commission, or in extreme cases, the court system. In certain cases, the Police also have the power to invite a journalist to help investigate a complaint.
The Ghana Journalists’ Association has protested against the arrest.
