General News of Thursday, 11 July 2013

Source: XYZ

I don’t regret my publication – Kuranchie

Convicted Journalist Ken Kuranchie has been released from jail. He was let out of the Nsawam prisons around 5am.

He says he does "not regret" his actions and "will do the same thing if given another chance".

Ken Kuranchie told Journalists this morning that he will write the same thing again if the chance was presented to him since he felt within his conscience that the court really needed to clarify certain things to Ghanaians as far as the rules of the court were concerned.

The Daily Searchlight Editor-in-Chief was sentenced to 10-days in prison by the Supreme Court for criminal contempt.

Thursday July 11, 2013 marks the end of his jail term.

Ken Kuranchie was faulted by the court hearing the election petition trial, for seeking to justify, through a front page comment on his paper, the description of the Bench as “hypocritical and selective” by a Deputy Communications Director of the main opposition New Patriotic Party, Sammy Awuku.

The Journalist cum NPP member was first taken to the Nsawam medium security facility in the Eastern Region, but later transferred to the Ho Central prison and subsequently to Kete Krachi, both in the Volta Region.

There was a storm of controversy over his continuous movement and shuffling between prisons.

Former Presidential Aspirant, Prof. Mike Ocquaye accused the Prisons and Security services of abusing the human rights of Ken Kuranchie by consistently moving him about.

He also claimed Mr. Kuranchie was never allowed to see his wife.

Ken Kuranchie told Journalists this morning that he felt "frightened" by his constant movement from one prison to the other.

He noted that his imprisonment has given him a first-hand experience of how horrible the conditions in the prisons were, adding that “It’s worse than slavery”.