Latif Iddris, who has been on admission at the Lighthouse Mission Hospital in Accra, sustained injuries on his ribs and neck.

[contextly_sidebar id=”MaqaxvzfAEkI9lw2YlkvUCuyEPpQH6Xs”]Latif Iddris on Tuesday night, had gone to cover protests at the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service on March 27, 2018, where a Deputy General Secretary of Ghana’s main opposition party, NDC, Koku Anyidoho, was being held on treason charges.

The journalist approached one policeman and asked him the name of one of the anti-riot vehicles that had been deployed to control the crowd.

To his shock, the innocent question angered the policeman who ordered him to get away. The police officer subsequently grabbed the retreating journalist from behind and slapped him for “asking a stupid question.”

“He then pushed me into a crowd of other police officers who had no clue what had transpired between the two of us but also started beating me up,” Iddris later narrated.

The police officers, now numbering about eight, took turns to assault the journalist.

One of them hit him in the rib with a stick; another officer used the butt of his gun to hit his head about three times. Some of the officers also kicked him.

After about seven minutes of manhandling, the reporter was rescued by another senior officer. Iddris was rushed to the Light House Hospital at North Kaneshie, a suburb of Accra, where he received treatment for the swellings on his face and bruises on his body.

Lands Minister John Peter Amewu, who condemned the action by the police, encouraged Latif not to be distracted by such acts as a journalist.

He also donated an unspecified amount of money to him to aid his treatment.

The Minister was accompanied by the Public Relations Officer of the Lands Ministry, Abraham Otabil, CitiNews’ Kojo Agyeman, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi of TV3 Network, Kweku Stephen of Oman FM, and Clara Mlano of Ghana Television.
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By: Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The GJA, in a statement, vehemently condemned the attack and called for immediate action.

[contextly_sidebar id=”WQi1U983IADFb3MG1w13uB9CBlkeXgh2″]Three journalists, including Citi FM’s Marie-Franz Fordjoe and two others from TV3 and Ghanaweb, were last week assaulted by security guards at the NPP’s headquarters when they were covering a demonstration by some angry party members.

The party is however yet to condemn or take action on the attack several days after the incident.

The GJA thus believes the seeming silence defeats the tenets of democracy on which the NDD was founded.

“We call on the leadership of the NPP to bring the culprits to book to demonstrate abhorrence of such dastardly act. The GJA expects that the NPP, as the ruling party and political tradition founded on the tenets of democracy, will whip its supporters into towing that philosophical line.”

MFWA also condemns attacks

Meanwhile, the Media Foundation for West Africa, has also strongly condemned the attack on the journalists.

The Foundation’s Executive Director, Sulemana Braimah, told Citi News that the party’s continuous silence on the matter will only encourage the hooligans.

“This is a matter that does not require a party having a meeting before it condemns the action. I think if this goes as it is now without any statement, apology, without any actions taken against the security people who did that, it will only further the culture of impunity, the culture of thuggery that we are witnessing in this country, and it will be extremely unfortunate. The people who abused these journalists are private security people at the party’s headquarters. And our expectation is that, at least the party will make a statement and perhaps take an action that will demonstrate to everyone including party security people that people including journalists who seek to engage with the party or make information happening within the premises know.

“The right thing to do is not to beat them, the right thing to do is not to attack them, so all that we are calling for is for the party to come up with something that will clearly state its position that it does not tolerate some of these actions. But if goes quiet, it means it is justifying whatever these party people did.”

How it happened

Following up on hints of an ongoing protest at the party’s national headquarters in Accra, the reporters headed there last Thursday to follow up on latest developments.

Upon their arrival, scores of the party’s members, numbering about 200 from the Ellembelle Constituency in the Western Region, had besieged the headquarters demanding a clean register ahead of the party’s internal elections in January 2018.

Whilst filming the happenings, they were attacked by about six well-built men who are security guards at the party’s head office.

GhanaWeb’s cameraman was slapped, thrown on the ground and kicked mercilessly by the ‘macho’ men.

When the issue was reported to the NPP Deputy General Secretary, Sam Payne upon his arrival at the scene, he retorted that, “no one asked him [the reporter] to come and film” and walked away.

Efforts by onlookers and the protesters were simply insufficient to calm the anger and energy with which the security guards were manhandling the cameraman.

TV3’s reporter earned slaps, after which his phones and other equipment were seized.

Citi FM’s reporter was also attacked by a female party loyalist and the ‘macho’ men. Her spectacles were broken, whereas her phones and bag were seized. She later was given back her items.

The Ellembelle protesters, who tried protecting the journalists, were also attacked.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Joseph Muscat told a press conference that eight people – all Maltese nationals, most with criminal records – had been detained in early-morning raids in three different parts of the island. He tweeted later that two more suspects were also in custody.

Muscat said there was a “reasonable suspicion” the suspects were involved in the killing of Caruana Galizia, whose popular blog attacked high-level political corruption, shady business dealings and organised crime on the island.

The joint police and military operation was the first breakthrough for the Maltese investigation, which has been helped by experts from the FBI, Europol and the Finnish and Dutch security services. Police now have 48 hours to interrogate the suspects and either charge or release them.

Muscat, who was a frequent target of Caruana Galizia’s blog reports along with others in his inner circle, said he could give no further details of the arrests, the suspects or the evidence against them, but offered his “personal commitment” that those responsible for the killing would be found.

Caruana Galizia’s son Matthew, who is also a reporter, told the Guardian his family were “in the dark” about the arrests and had been given no further information beyond a phone call from a magistrate’s office after the arrests were made public.

At a separate event, the island’s police commissioner, Lawrence Cutajar, refused to take any questions about the arrests, which have been called one of the biggest police operations in Maltese history.

They took place in Marsa, where other car bombings have occurred, as well as Zebbug, a village in central Malta, and in the northern town of St Paul’s Bay. A section of Lighters Wharf in the port area of Marsa was still sealed off later on Monday as military personnel and police used sniffer dogs to search buildings.

The murder on 16 October sent shockwaves through the island and alarmed the EU, which was already concerned about the rule of law on Malta. The bloc’s smallest member state has often been branded a haven for dubious foreign money.

Last week, MEPs visiting Malta on a fact-finding mission said they had arrived “seriously concerned” about the rule of law and were leaving “even more worried”. They said an apparent reluctance to investigate and prosecute major cases had created a “perception of impunity”.

The journalist’s family are taking legal action against the island’s police, saying the investigation into the killing cannot be impartial and independent since Caruana Galizia wrote critical articles about both the senior officer now running it, Silvio Valletta, and his wife, a top government minister.

The family have alleged that her murder was a “targeted killing” of a journalist whose work focused on uncovering “corruption, criminality, conflicts of interest and ethical failures in decision-making” by politicians and their associates.

The family have raised other concerns about the investigation, which they say appears to be focusing only on forensic evidence rather than examining financial transactions that could uncover vital evidence. They also suggest leaks from within the police could intimidate potential informants.

The most significant investigations by the murdered journalist stemmed from the Panama Papers, a leak of documents from the archives of the offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca. Malta’s government is offering a €1m reward for information relating to the killing.

A top Italian prosecutor, Carmelo Zuccaro, has said he believes the murder could be linked to an investigation he is leading into a fuel-smuggling operation spanning Libya, Malta and Italy and involving organised crime groups in Sicily. Caruana Galizia wrote about some of those linked to the inquiry.

Antonio Di Pietro, an Italian politician and judge who was a prosecutor in Italy’s anti-corruption Mani Pulite corruption trials in the 1990s, said on Monday that Caruana Galizia’s murder had all the hallmarks of a mafia-style killing.

“It was professional and a classic mafia-style homicide,” Di Pietro told the Times of Malta. “The mafia’s style is intimidation. The target was not only poor Caruana Galizia … but all those around her because it was a clear warning: be careful or you’ll suffer the same fate.”

Responding to a public letter from eight of the world’s largest media organisations including the New York Times, BBC and the Guardian, the first vice-president of the EU commission, Frans Timmermans, last month issued a strong warning to Malta.

“The eyes of Europe are on the Maltese authorities,” Timmermans said. “We want those directly and indirectly responsible for this horrible murder to be brought to justice.”

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Source: Guardian UK

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Mr. Agyenim-Boateng polled 21 votes to beat ten other contestants. The Brong Ahafo Region electoral college had 50 qualified delegates from the various district assemblies in the region.

The Nkoranza North and South assemblies did not take part because those assemblies were not properly constituted, and not in place since they did not take part in the previous district assembly elections.

Voting was well organised and supervised by the Brong Ahafo Regional EC Director, George Gyaaba, at the Sunyani Municipal Assembly Hall.

He beat 9 other contenders following the withdrawal of the Paramount Chief of Yeji Pimampim Yaw Kagbrese V at the last hour.

Mr. Agyenim-Boateng’s closest contender was 54-year-old Nana Osei Yaw Barimah, who polled 11 votes.

Speaking after his election, Kwadwo Agyenim Boateng thanked the delegates for the confidence reposed in him, and attributed his victory to hard work and commitment to serve.

He pledged to use his position to bring development to the region.

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By: Mashoud Kombat/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Retired B/A journalist elected Council of State rep appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Central Regional Crime Officer, Superintendent Baffour Appenteng, said Olarndo Matrevi, employed with Coastal TV in Cape Coast, blackmailed the women and threatened to publish their pictures on the internet if they don’t have sex with him.

Supt Appenteng explained that, the suspect’s “modus operandi is to lure girls and when he gets you, through either Facebook or WhatsApp, pretends that he is interacting with you from overseas then he will lure you to send nude pictures. As soon as he gets the new pictures, he will now show up his face and say that if don’t allow me to do this, I will go viral and this is what he has been doing.”

He revealed that, two victims had come forward to file reports about Olarndo Matrevi’s blackmail attempts.

“They came and made the report and we have arrested him. We have his IPad where the nude pictures of the girls are kept. We are just praying that maybe he has not sent it as he intended,” Supt Appenteng said to the media.

The suspect is set to be arraigned today [Monday].

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By: Akwesi koranteng/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Mr. Daboussi was arrested and detained by the BNI over the weekend for allegedly writing a book on Ghana and making offensive comments about the President John Mahama on some websites.

He was released on Monday.

But speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday, Hassan Tampoli said his client was picked up because of some articles he published on some online portals in the country.

“The books were initially taken away from his residence but they were brought back yesterday. The interaction that he had with the BNI had nothing to do with the books so I believe that is why they returned the books at dawn yesterday. But everything had to do with the articles he had written,” he added.

Tampoli also argued that some of the comments critics claim Daboussi made against the president were referenced from some newspapers.

“He wrote an article which the content of which had things which were already in the public domain and a newspaper had already published that story and he only referenced the content. He only referenced the content of the article so he was not the author.”

BNI wrong place to seek redress

The lawyer also explained that the BNI was the wrong place for aggrieved persons supposedly indicted in the article to seek redress.

To him, such persons could write a rejoinder, petition the National Media Commission or go to court.

“…I believe the BNI is not the appropriate quarters for such issues to be discussed. If there is any publication that is critical of the president and minister or any government official, we have recourse to a rejoinder… to clarify anything that has been leveled against you. If you don’t want to do a rejoinder you can lodge a complaint at the national Media Commission for the commission to investigate the matter. At the end of the day, the person whose article is more or less judged to be wrongful would be asked to retract and apologize.”

“Another remedy for any persons who are aggrieved is to go to court. BNI is not one of the places to make a report that somebody had published something against you,” he insisted.

Occupy BNI

A group calling itself Ghana Must Know had earlier threatened to stage a mass action at the premises of the BNI, if it fails to release Mr. Daboussi.

“We are occupying BNI as early as 5am to demand the release of our brother. We are not going to do anything that will breach the peace of this country. We are only going there to demand for his immediate release. If they are not doing that then maybe it will follow with a mass demonstration across the country,” Convener of Ghana Must Know, Hopeson Adorye told Citi News.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Daboussi was not arrested over his book – Lawyer appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Ghanaian writer and journalist was reportedly arrested at the Kotoka International Airport last Friday for allegedly publishing a book which many say contains offensive comments about President John Mahama.

Mr. Daboussi’s lead Counsel, Hassan Tampoli who confirmed the recent development to Citi News said his client was granted a self-recognizance bail.

The BNI reportedly  ransacked Fadi’s residence later after his arrest.

Occupy BNI

A group calling itself Ghana Must Know had earlier threatened to stage a mass action at the premises of the BNI, if it fails to release Mr. Daboussi by midnight.

“We are occupying BNI as early as 5am to demand the release of our brother. We are not going to do anything that will breach the peace of this country. We are only going there to demand for his immediate release. If they are not doing that then maybe it will follow with a mass demonstration across the country,” Convener of Ghana Must Know, Hopeson Adorye told Citi News.

Arrest by BNI avoidable

The group had further taken a swipe at the BNI despite releasing Mr. Daboussi.

Ghana Must Know in a statement said though the BNI has released the journalist, “…it does not exonerate the BNI from such avoidable abuse of power and breach of fundamental human rights of people.”

Below is the full statement

We have taken notice of the release of Mr. Fadi Dabbousi from BNI cells a short while ago, earlier than the midnight ultimatum we gave to the Bureau of National Investigation.

Whilst it is good to hear, it does not exenorate the BNI from such avoidable abuse of power and breach of fundamental human rights of people.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Abdul Karim Natogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post BNI releases Fadi Daboussi appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.