Acting Editor of Joy FM Ato Kwamena Dadzie has been charged with reporting false information after refusing to reveal his sources to police.
Dadzie was charged for publishing a story claiming that the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) withdrew its opposition to the US$10 billion (GH¢14.54billion) housing deal between the government and South Korean firm STX after some of its members received death threats.
According to General Secretary of the Ghana Journalists' Association (GJA) Bright Blewu, the police interviewed Dadzie after the government denounced the story but he refused to reveal his sources. He was subsequently charged with publication of false news with intent to cause fear and alarm to the public. He was released on GH¢5,000 bail.
US-based Committee to Protect Journalists has called the criminal charge “outrageous” and said in a statement, “The police should not intimidate a journalist into disclosing his source.”
In Accra, the Alliance for Accountable Governance has called for a repeal of the law on causing fear and alarm, and has expressed concern about the systematic manner in which the freedom of the media in Ghana is being curtailed.
For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.
© 2010 Menas Associates
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