Outspoken US-based legal practitioner, Prof Kwaku Asare, has added his critical voice to the many condemning the National Security for storming the premises of Citi FM in an attempt to arrest a journalist.
According to the lawyer and Accounting Professor, known popularly as Prof Azar, even if there are laws banning photography of restricted zones, these laws must not ignore the laws on arresting offenders.
“What was the justification for storming Citi FM’s premises to terrorise the entire staff merely because an employee had taken a picture which he had sent to another employee? What was the imminent danger that justified this needless show of force?
“Rules are rules does not mean violating a rule suspends the rules on search, seizure, arrest or otherwise transforms the security service into a Gestapo outfit,†he echoed similar sentiments expressed by many on the incident.
Heavily armed operatives of the National Security agency stormed the premises of Citi FM yesterday, May 11, 2021, to arrest Zoe Abu-Baidoo, on grounds that the journalist had been collaborating with Caleb Kudah to secretly film abandoned vehicles at the National Security Ministry.
Management of Citi FM prevented the arrest of Zoe but Caleb was arrested and interrogated for hours before being released.
Many Ghanaians have taken to social media to condemn the security agency for their heavy-handedness, although a section of the public say the journalist breached the law against filming restricted zones.
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Popular legal practitioner, Samson Anyenini, has surmised that the arrest of Caleb and the attempted arrest of  Zoe by the heavily armed National Security operatives on Tuesday was unlawful.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has also condemned the National Security over the incident.
Commenting on the matter on Facebook, Prof Asare said more distressing is that a section of Ghanaians seems to consistently support national security officials’ use of high handedness.
“It is almost as if we can find no wrong with the security service’s use of bugabuga to intimidate the citizenry. And this is true whether we lived under the military or a civilian regime,†he stated.
Read his full submissions on the incident, which he posted on Facebook, below.
Even if there are laws banning photography of security installations, such laws do not operate to suspend the laws on arresting violators.
Nor do they grant license to security officers to embark on a Rambo style invasion of a media house in pursuit of a journalist whose high crime was to be sent some pictures of Blue Gate allegedly taken by another employee.
But more distressing is that throughout our history, a section of the populace has always supported the security officials’ use of high handedness (bugabuga).
It is almost as if we can find no wrong with the security service’s use of bugabuga to intimidate the citizenry. And this is true whether we lived under the military or a civilian regime.
What was the justification for storming CitiFM’s premises to terrorize the entire staff merely because an employee had taken a picture which he had sent to another employee? What was the imminent danger that justified this needless show of force?
Rules are rules does not mean violating a rule suspends the rules on search, seizure, arrest or otherwise transforms the security service into a Gestapo outfit.
#SALL is the cardinal sin of the 8th Parliament. It is a more serious security threat than taking pictures of the Blue Gate.
Da Yie!