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This is the view of two top social commentators, veteran journalist Abdul Malik Kweku Baako and US-based academic, Prof. Stephen Asare, popularly referred to as Kwaku Azar.
The two, while reacting specifically to the arrest of Kwabena Bobie Ansah, slammed the route the Police had opted to take with Baako describing it as unsustainable and wrong-headed.
On his part, Prof Azar said the current trend risks eroding years of activism for freedom of speech and the press.
Without mentioning the First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo and Second Lady Samira Bawumia explicitly, they inferred that all persons interested in clearing their names should sue for defamation.
What the two me said about taking a civil route:
“Let those whose integrity and reputation might have been damaged by the commission and omission of the journalist, proceed on the CIVIL LIBEL WAVELENGTH to cure the MISCHIEF and MALICE! NO NEED FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OR PROSECUTION,” Baako wrote in a Facebook post of February 11.
“The civil courts are there for those who feel defamed. Above all, state actors, who provide reliable information to the people, need not worry about false publications.
“Just as most of us tune out state propaganda, we are equally able to tune out false reportage, especially when we have alternative and timely facts,” Prof Azar stated.
Brief about the Bobie vs. State case:
Kwabena Bobie Ansah was arrested on Thursday, February 10 for making unsubstantiated allegations against the First Lady, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, and wife of the Vice President, Samira Bawumia.
The journalist accused the duo of “fraudulently granting themselves state lands at AU Village, around the Kotoka International Airport for the construction of [the] Rebecca Foundation, a non-governmental project”.
The broadcaster, per the police charge sheet made the allegations on January 1, 2022. However, investigations into the matter revealed that it was false.
He has been charged with the publication of false news and offensive conduct following which a Kaneshie District Court granted him a GH¢50,000 bail with two sureties.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
