Some leading Ghanaian sports journalists have been extremely vocal about the mistreatment of some protestors by the Ghana Police Service on Thursday, September 21, 2023.
Leading sports journalists, Saddick Adams, Collins Atta Poku, Gary Al-Smith are among a number of journalists who have lent their support to the affected protestors and called out the Dampare-led police service over their ill-treatment of the protestors.
Background
On Day 1 (September 21) of the #OccupyJulorbiHouse protests by the Democracy Hub, a group of young activists; police illegally rounded up 49 protesters who were marching to demand action on prevailing economic crisis and corruption.
The illegal arrests, especially how they were conducted by the police triggered harsh criticism of impeding the constitutional right to protest and deploying highhandedness on the part of police.
Police sent the detainees to the regional headquarters before splitting them up to about eight police stations dotted across the capital, even as colleague protesters and lawyers worked to secure bail for the illegally detained persons.
In this process, other journalists and protesters who massed up, especially at the Accra Regional Command encountered some amount of police violence including shoving, forced detention, seizure of phones, and in the case of other physical assault.
In their first of two statements on the day, police said the illegal arrests were justified because protesters were defying a court injunction served on them, which process they denied had been properly served.
The second statement addressed the purported arrest of a BBC journalist and his cameraman, which reportage they dismissed as untrue.
By the close of the day, almost all illegally detained protesters per GhanaWeb checks had been released from illegal detention on bail, it remains to be seen whether Day Two of the three-day protest targeting the seat of government, the Jubilee House, will come off today (September 22, 2023).
Read the tweets below
I’m so angry at this despicable and inhumane treatment visited on these protestors. I mean how? They are Ghanaians too. They are our brothers and sisters . We will not be slaves in our own country. We won’t. #OccupyJulorbiHouse
— Daniel Oduro (@Daniel_Oduro) September 21, 2023
This is wrong and condemnable. I have been part of protests before and I don’t see why people can’t protest in peace. All this needless drama for what? This is so disappointing. https://t.co/ChcHqBYkTN
— Collins Atta Poku (@PapaPoku) September 21, 2023
Using crude means to stop peaceful protests and intimidating dissidents has never been the solution to dimming anger.
— Saddick Adams (@SaddickAdams) September 21, 2023
The end result of that has always been catastrophic and extremely beyond the control of anyone.
And there’s no country with a better history of this than…
If you know a high profile (sports/ entertainment/political/whatever) journalist who REFUSES to see injustice, REFUSES to speak about it, and only says "oh, as for me I do only (sports/ entertainment/political/whatever journalist)", mark them down as being complicit in those…
— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) September 21, 2023
If policing becomes a constant PR game, the fundamentals will expose you.
— Michael Oti Adjei (@OtiAdjei) September 21, 2023
Why and how is a police force so engrossed in denying people the right to speak their displeasure at the sinking ship called Ghana?
I don’t understand how these pathetic lot can’t see that this is far far worse than just allowing the protesters to protest in peace and go home.
— Daniel Koranteng (@Dani77k) September 21, 2023
This is next level oppression. Shame on every single one of them.
THE WORST LEADERSHIP EVER!
God help us all and bless this country. In the end, we need it to be a better place for all of us.
— Yaw (@theyawofosu) September 21, 2023
I don’t understand how these pathetic lot can’t see that this is far far worse than just allowing the protesters to protest in peace and go home.
— Daniel Koranteng (@Dani77k) September 21, 2023
This is next level oppression. Shame on every single one of them.
THE WORST LEADERSHIP EVER!
You said on TV this morning, however mealymouthed it was, that the police had rounded them up to serve them breakfast. Now you’re here saying something different, Richard.
— Yaw (@theyawofosu) September 21, 2023
It won’t cut it. https://t.co/Do4KnxmGqJ
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