The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has described as “extremely preposterous,” the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) invitation and questioning of Citi FM boss over an online publication.
He questioned why the Ghana Police Service was by-passed in the investigations saying, “it is not even the Police but a National Security Agency…I think we have enough mechanisms to deal with such infractions if they are.”
[contextly_sidebar id=”r10hALmzPBiHyVlkTKit4skNO4hQo7xC”]The Chief Executive Officer of the Citi FM, Samuel Attah-Mensah was on Monday invited by the BNI for questioning over on online publication on citifmonline.com about the arrest of a Ghanaian woman in the UK for possessing cocaine weighing 12kg.
The 32-year-old Nayeli Ametefeh was reported to have traveled with a Ghanaian Diplomatic passport but the government has denied the report.
Mr. Attah-Mensah’s Counsel, Nii Apatu Plange told citifmonline.com that he was not allowed to join Mr. Attah-Mensah during the interrogation.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, the Executive Director of MFWA, Sule Brimah said that if indeed, the earlier publication contained inaccuracies; it was not enough reason for Mr. Attah-Mensah to be invited by the BNI.
“Let us assume it contains inaccuracies and on the basis of that we will pick up the head of that media organization?” he asked.
He pointed out that such occurrences are only witnessed in places like Somalia, Iraq or in Syria.
“I think that Ghana has gone past this stage and I will be extremely surprised if it is anything related to information or content put out by Citi FM,” he said.
Mr. Briamah lamented that it is “very, very surprising that Ghana at this day and age; 20 years of democracy…the repeal of the Criminal Libel law, a country that is put out there in the world as being one of the freest in media freedom and then it does this because a station has put up something that in their view or they have established not to be true and the reaction is that; will just come and whisk the manager of the station away.”
“These are the things that existed during the Military times that we all cried about. Increasingly, Ghana is losing that status as a press freedom country,” he added.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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