The Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Ltd Mr.
Kenneth Ashigbey has stated that the country is likely to experience what is
happening in Iraq and in Syria if immediate steps are not taken to cease
assaults on journalists. Speaking on Adom Fm, he described the month of
September as “black September for journalists” in the country. Adom FM's
journalists -Afia Pokua, Kofi Assan and Sefa Samuel - were on Thursday
afternoon brutalized by the Manager of the National Health Insurance Scheme at
Ablekuma in Accra. This is the second time in less than a week that journalists
from the Multimedia Group Limited have survived attacks in the hands of public
officers. On Saturday September 7, Felix Akunor, a driver with MultiTV and two
journalists, Solomon Joojo Cobbinah and Festus Jackson Davies were
arrested on the orders of the Mayor of Accra, Alfred Vanderpuije while covering
the plight of some displaced people at Mensah Guinea in Accra. Mr. Ashigbey
said the police should be quick to intervene when they see journalists being
attacked in their line of duty, noting that one of the places that journalists
are being assaulted most is the court. He said it is time the Ghana Journalists
Association (GJA), National Media Commission (NMC), Ghana Independent
Broadcasters Association (GIBA) and the state-owned media meet with the chief
justice, the IGP and the Attorney General to discuss problems journalists are
facing in the country. He urged media houses to also assure journalists of
their safety as well as their readiness to secure them legal assistance in case
of assault. He bemoaned the lack of seriousness attached to assault cases by
media owners and appealed to them to as a matter of urgency stand for the right
of their workers.
Source: Myjoy
No comments:
Post a Comment