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Legal Action
April 17
Eben Quarcoo, The Free Press, HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION
Tommy Thompson, Tommy Thompson Books, Ltd., HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION
Quarcoo, editor of the weekly The Free Press, and Thompson, owner of Tommy Thompson Books, the newspaper's publisher, were summoned by the police to answer accusations that they violated Section 185 of the 1960 Criminal Code, which forbids "publishing falsehoods with the intent of injuring the reputation of the state." They were detained for five hours, interrogated, then released without charge on bail of 10 million cedis (US$6,700) each. The detention was in connection with an April 10 article in The Free Press. The story, based on an article originally published in the March 14-27 issue of the New York biweekly The African Observer, alleged that Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings had impregnated the daughter of former Togolese head of state Nicholas Yao Grunitzky. CPJ condemned the detention of Quarcoo and Thompson in a letter to President Rawlings.
August 9
Cofie Ammuako-Annan, Ghanaian Chronicle, IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION
General Portfolio, LEGAL ACTION
Kofi Coomson, Ghanaian Chronicle, LEGAL ACTION
Darkwa, Ghanaian Chronicle, LEGAL ACTION
Ammuako-Annan, acting editor of the independent daily Ghanaian Chronicle, was convicted of contempt of court, sentenced to 30 days' imprisonment, and incarcerated, and the newspaper's publishing company, General Portfolio, was fined 1 million cedis (US$700). Ammuako-Annan was released on Aug. 30. Ghanaian Chronicle directors Coomson and Darkwa, who had also been charged with contempt, were acquitted. The charges stemmed from the newspaper's criticism of a high court judge's courtroom behavior during a murder trial. The judge had ordered a news blackout of the murder-trial proceedings.
For more information contact africaweb@cpj.org