Militia Documentary: Manassee Responds to Government's NMC Petition

Investigation reporter, Manbadeh Azure Awuni asks the National Media Commission (CNM) to reject a petition challenging the authenticity of a Joy FM documentary about alleged militia activities in the US. former seat of government..

according to For the legal team, the government's petition to the NMC was an attempt to censor the media.

The response, filed on behalf of the journalist by Mr. Samson Lardy Anyenini, a lawyer states that Multimedia Group Limited "never committed professional misconduct; Nor did he violate any rule, code, law or constitution, and the plaintiff certainly never accused him of including the pretense of broadcasting a documentary containing a shocking statement, totally false, produces blatant false statements of wild facts and speculations. "

The respondent therefore submits that the government (the complainant) was not entitled to any of the reliefs sought because the complaint was unfounded and without merit and that, for that reason, it must be dismissed in its entirety .

The respondent further baderts that the government's complaint sought to unconstitutionally and unlawfully compel and frustrate the respondent and the media in the exercise of their duty and obligation, as well as those of citizens, according to Article 41 (f) of the Constitution, namely "to protect and preserve public interests". ownership and expose and combat the misuse and waste of public funds and badets ".

Ghana News Titles

For the latest news in Ghana, visit the Graphic Online titles page
Ghana News Page

The Respondent also submits that the Government's complaint was also aimed at unconstitutionally and unlawfully obstructing and hindering the right of citizens to the information guaranteed by Article 21 (f) of the Constitution, in particular for matters of public interest .

According to the Respondent, the Government's request also sought to establish illegal and unconstitutional censorship and to interfere with the freedom and independence of the Respondent and the media, in violation of Article 162 (1) and (2) of the Constitution.

Interference

It also accused the government of attempting to prohibit and unconstitutionally and illegally prevent the exercise by Multimedia Group Limited of the privileges guaranteed by section 162 (4) of the Act. the Constitution: [e]Editors and publishers of newspapers and other media institutions are not subject to the control or intervention of the government, and are not penalized or harbaded for their editorial opinions and views, or for the content of their content. publications.

Prevent

The respondent asks the NPC not to let the government impose its facts and interpretations "because that seems to be the main focus of the complaint and nothing more".

"The complaint about the content of the first six minutes of the documentary is a very fictitious attempt at direct dictation and discretion in a clever censorship and it must be rejected from the outset. The content in question was very relevant and of public interest, "says the response to the government petition.

The Respondent argued that the complaints complained of were matters of great public interest, having brought the entire nation and its leaders to the point that the President is creating a constitutional commission, directing political party leaders to take action. to end the phenomenon and to instruct the Attorney General to submit a bill for this purpose.

Context

On March 7, 2019, the television channel Joy News broadcast a 22-minute documentary entitled "The Militia in the Heart of the Nation", which was partially broadcast on the radio by Joy FM, Adom FM and Asempa FM.

The documentary was told that a "militia" [De Eye Group] was discovered and operated at Christianborg Castle in Osu in Accra, which is a "safe zone" with the complicity of the government since it belonged to the ruling political party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

But dissatisfied with the documentary, the government, through the Minister of Information, filed a petition dated March 13 2019 and addressed to the President of the NMC.

The government is demanding a statement that "the documentary contested by Azure and Joy News is misleading and constitutes a dishonest and deliberate statement of facts and is designed to cause unjustified public apprehension, alarm and panic; Secondly, a retraction order from and apologies to the Government of Ghana for the content of the said documentary mentioned above, and finally additional disciplinary measures, to the extent that your commission could: appear meet."

Explaining the reason for the government's action, the petition says: "We are filing this complaint because the substance of the story denounced is fundamentally false, it is the product of blatant false statements of facts, of wild speculations from the producer of the specified documentary on it and even betrays a desperate attempt on the part of Multimedia and Awuni to denigrate the sincere efforts of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, aiming to put an end to the disturbing phenomenon of political vigilance in the country. "

The petition indicates that the documentary deliberately failed to mention the material fact that the National Security Council Secretariat had closed the alleged office of the company since October 2018.

"Indeed, at the date of publication of the documentary in March 2019, there was no activity of any kind whatsoever on the part of the company at the castle.

But Multimedia Group Limited refutes the government's allegations and insists that it is a safety zone. The directors of the De Eye Group were, among other things, retired security officers.