OccupyJulorbiHouse demo: BBC Journalist, Cameraman released

A BBC reporter in Ghana, Thomas Naadi, and his Cameraman who were earlier picked up by the Police have been released.

The Journalists were picked up while they were covering a demonstration organized by Democracy Hub on Thursday.

A BBC spokesperson said: “Two BBC reporters were arrested in Ghana whilst covering demonstrations at Jubilee House. Both reporters were briefly detained and have since been released.”

In a statement, the police explained that “in dispersing the illegal demonstrators, a group of them were picked up and sent to the police station. During their screening process, two persons identified themselves as journalists and were immediately allowed to go.

“While we assure the public of our commitment to work with all stakeholders in our quest to ensure security law and order, we want to urge all the other stakeholders to be circumspect in the discharge of their responsibilities since they have implications for the image and reputation of other stakeholders.”

The protest was intended to commence at the 37 Hospital area of Accra and culminate at Ghana’s presidency, the Jubilee House.

According to the police, court notices were served to the protesters, advising them to cancel their plans. However, the demonstrators dispute this claim, asserting that they were not served any such notice, leading them to proceed with their protest.

Law enforcement officers apprehended 49 protesters and some journalists and transported them to the Accra regional police headquarters.

Subsequently, after screening and discussions, the journalists who were among the detained protesters, including BBC’s Thomas Naadi and his colleagues, were released.

At the Accra regional police headquarters, some protesters were arrested at the main entrance while attempting to have some of their colleagues released.

The police issued a press statement earlier in the day, clarifying that they do not take pleasure in preventing any group from demonstrating, emphasizing their history of providing security for demonstrations in the past.

Source: Citinewsroom.com