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WAJA PRESIDENT FACES POSSIBLE SEDITION CHARGES

On 3 February, Kabral Blay-Amihere, president of the West African Journalists Association (WAJA), executive member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and editor of "The Independent", was summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police on possible charges of sedition, reports WAJA and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The investigation was related to an editorial that Blay-Amihere wrote and published in "The Independent" on 11 January about the military. The article urged the public to boycott "the traditional 31 December military parade, describing it as a relic from the days when the army controlled all state agencies and affairs in Ghana," says CPJ. WAJA reports that "under Ghana's Criminal Code of 1960, any person found guilty of sedition faces a minimum prison sentence of five years." Blay-Amihere was released after several hours of interrogation.

According to WAJA, Kabral was previously arrested and detained by the military on 13 January for this same editorial. The soldiers intercepted Blay-Amihere while he was traveling in his car in Accra, says CPJ. He was released the following day, however, was "compelled to publish a statement in "The Independent", prepared by the army.... [in which] he apologized for his irresponsible take on the 31 December military parade," says CPJ. CPJ attests that the treatment of Blay-Amihere is unlawful, stating that "[u]nder Ghana's 1992 Constitution, complaints against the media should be dealt with by the non-governmental National Media Commission, and it is only in exceptional cases that the police may take action directly against the media."