JBA Calls For The Release Of Arrested ModernGhana Editors

A media advocacy group by name, Journalists for Business Advocacy (JBA) affiliated to the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), has called for the immediate release of modernghana editors who were arrested Thursday night by national security operatives.

According to the group, the arrest of Mr Ajafor Azunungu Emmanuel and one other journalist, Mr Emmanuel Britwum violates media freedom.

A group of men introducing themselves as National Security operatives Thursday evening raided the office of online news outlet, ModernGhana.com and arrested two persons.

According to sources, the raid was carried after a publication was made about the National security minister Albert Kan Dapaah.

Laptops belonging to the online media outfit were seized in the course of the raid.

In a statement signed by Suleiman Mustapha and Kofi Ahovi, President and Vice-President of JBA respectively described the arrest of the two journalists as “arbitrary”.

The statement reads “Personnel who identified themselves as operatives from the National Security arrested the two journalists in their office in Accra without any proper explanation.

”Violence against journalism and journalists by the security agencies” must end, adding that the authorities must rather “ensure a safe working environment for journalists” and also guarantee “freedom of speech in the country”.

JBA, therefore, “condemns the detention of our colleagues who were discharging their professional duties. We demand their immediate release from those who are detaining them. We also call on the government, the National Media Commission (NMC), the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and civil societies to take these outrageous violations seriously. We reiterate our call to all parties involved to enforce the constitutional rights of journalists in this country to end the unnecessary attacks.

“The arbitrary detention of these journalists is not an isolated case. In recent times, journalists have been under threat while others have lost their lives while performing their rightful duties. These include attacks on journalists and photojournalists, closure of some media enterprises and the destruction of equipment of journalists. The names of the late Ahmed Hussein-Suale and Manasseh Azure Awuni immediately come to mind”.