The New Patriotic Party (NPP) says it will support an appeal against the one-year prison sentence handed to TikToker Camilla Alhassan, describing the punishment as an attack on free speech.
In a statement issued on Thursday, July 16, the party said it was shocked by the Accra Circuit Court's decision to jail Camilla Alhassan after she was convicted of offensive conduct over comments she made about President John Dramani Mahama.
The NPP argued that if the President believed he had been defamed, the appropriate remedy was a civil lawsuit rather than criminal prosecution and imprisonment.
The party also criticised the way Camilla Alhassan was treated after her conviction, saying she was handled in a manner that undermined her dignity and public confidence in law enforcement.
It announced that it would support every lawful effort by Camilla Alhassan and her legal team to challenge both the conviction and the sentence.
The NPP further called on civil society organisations, the Ghana Bar Association, the National Peace Council, the media and the diplomatic community to speak out against what it described as the criminalisation of free speech.
The party said it remained committed to defending the constitutional rights of Ghanaians to express their views and warned against actions it believes could undermine democratic freedoms.
