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General News of Friday, March 22, 2019
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists – Africa
2019-03-22
Malik Sullemana
The Ghanaian authorities should hold accountable the police responsible for defeating the journalist Malik Sullemana, conduct a thorough investigation into their actions and protect the security of the press during their exchanges with the police, said today the Committee for the Protection of Journalists.
Sullemana, a judicial reporter and investigative journalist of the Ghanaian-owned daily Ghanaian Times, was beaten by police officers in Accra and then arrested following an incident that occurred on March 14 in the morning. circulation, the journalist told CPJ. Sullemana said he was beaten again at the police station before being allowed to leave and to see a doctor later in the day.
Journalists Salifu Abdul Rahman and Raissa Sambou Ebu, of Sullemana, and his colleagues who were also on the scene, told CPJ that even though they did not think they had been targeted during the night, they did not want to be caught. accident, they thought the police had treated them harder. were journalists.
The incident came nearly a year after journalist Latif Iddrisu was badaulted by police in a police station in Accra, as reported by CPJ at the time.
"There is absolutely no reason for the police in Ghana to attack journalist Malik Sullemana, and the people involved should be held accountable," said Angela Quintal, coordinator of CPJ's Africa program, based in New Delhi. York. "This attack, and at least one such attack, indicates that some Ghanaian police officers not only consider the safety of journalists, but are also hostile and violent to the media, which is unacceptable."
According to Sullemana, the altercation began when a motorcycle policeman collided with the Ghanaian Times car that Sullemana, Rahman, Ebu and their driver were driving at the time. The officer absconded and Times employees followed him and confronted him, Sullemana said.
The Times staff members began to argue with the officer, and the argument escalated after the arrival of several other officers and noticed that Sullemana was in the process of to film, "Rahman told CPJ.
Sullemana told CPJ that police officers hit him in the face during the dispute, searched him and arrested him. Rahman told CPJ that he had seen police "beaten" [Sullemana] "before handcuffing and pushing him into a police vehicle.
Ebu told CPJ that she was also beaten by police officers during the altercation. She was hit in the stomach. she told CPJ that she was recovering from a caesarean birth three months earlier and that she had to be rushed to the hospital, where her condition soon became stabilized.
Sullemana told CPJ that during the trip to the station, a senior officer said that journalists "write negative comments about [the police]. "
When they arrived at the station, Sullemana stated that the same officer had told him that they would "give you a lesson" and did not intervene while other officers were punching him and insult him, resulting in blood clotting to his left eye and bruising. his left arm, and swelling in his left leg.
On March 18, Sullemana made an official statement to the police about the incident, he told CPJ.
On March 20, three of the police officers involved in the incident were suspended pending an investigation, according to a statement from Ghana's police on social media and Ghana's police spokesman. David Eklu, who spoke with CPJ about WhatsApp. Eklu told CPJ that the suspension would last for a maximum of three months.
According to the statement, the regional authorities have opened an investigation into the officers involved in this roadside incident for "alleged badault of Ghanaian Times journalists".
The professional police and the bureau of standards opened a separate investigation into the conduct of police officers who were on duty at the police station when Sullemana was badaulted there, according to the statement and Eklu.
When Sullemana made his official statement, he was informed of the initiation of an investigation, which allegedly badaulted a police officer, the journalist told CPJ. On March 20, Eklu told CPJ that he "can not say at this point" if one of the Ghanaian Times' journalists is under investigation.
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