Editorial: Interdiction not enough -Chief Superintendent Lumor Should Be prosecuted as well!

The Ablekuma North parliamentary election rerun last week Friday was marred by violence and assault on media persons and prominent politicians. Kwabena Agyekum Banahene of the EIB Network, Salomey Martey of the Multimedia Group and Vida Wiafe of Amansan TV (ATV) were all victims of the assaults, which occurred while they were reporting live from polling stations within the constituency.

These incidents were perpetrated byalleged political party adherents, vigilante groupsand a security personnel. The development obviously calls fora robust measures to protect journalists and ensurethat they perform their essential democratic functions without any fear of reprisal.

The horrendous part of the violence on the media was that the assault of the EIB Network journalist was committed by a police officer.According to the journalist, he was seated behind a vendor near the polling station when a police officer ordered him to leave. “I was just sitting behind a vendor, and the officer asked me to go out. I told him I can’t just leave because we are all working, and he slapped me on the face,”he recounted. The Mayor of Accra, Michael Kpakpo Allotey, who was also at the scene, expressed disappointment over the conduct of the Police officer.

The Chronicle is, however, happy that in a statement issued on Friday, the Police Service confirmed that the officer had been withdrawn from election duty in the constituency and referred to the Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB) for further investigation, in line with internal disciplinary procedures.The Police Service has assured the public that a thorough investigation will be carried out and that further updates will be communicated.

The swift action by the police notwithstanding, we condemn the conduct by the senior police officer. In a democracy, the press is not a nuisance,but the voice of the voiceless, a watchdog for accountability and an essential part of free and fair elections. Therefore, the assault of a journalist, especially during a democratic exercise like a parliamentary rerun, is not just an attack on the individual,it is an attack on press freedom and democracy itself.

We are outraged by the shameful conduct of the police officer, identified as Chief Superintendent Lumor, the Adentan Divisional Commander. From the video we sighted, it is crystal clear that the journalist posed no threat.

He was properly dressed as a media professional, with no weapon, no provocation, and certainly no act of misconduct. Yet he was slapped in a broad daylight by an officer who thought hewas above the law.Let us be blunt, what the Police officer did is not a “misconduct” as the police claimed in their statement.  It is rather a criminal offence.

Though the withdrawal of the Police officer from election duty and his subsequent interdiction must be commended, The Chronicle still thinks it is woefully inadequate. Interdiction without prosecution only reinforces the toxic idea that state security officers can brutalise citizens, especially journalists with impunity.

When the Police Service needs publicity or support, they run to the media. But when the media does its job, they are treated like second-class citizens – pushed, shoved, assaulted and silenced.

We demand that Chief Superintendent Lumor should be prosecuted under the full rigours of the law. Anything short of this would be gross miscarriage of justice. If for any reason he is not prosecuted, then at the very least, his rank should be reduced immediately to send a strong signal to all officers that brutality against journalists will not be tolerated.

We cannot normalise violence against journalists, we will not. The Chronicle will religiously follow this case. We will not let it fade into silence or bureaucracy. Because justice must not only be done, itmust be seen to be done.

The security of journalists is the security of democracy. If the state fails to protect the media, it fails us all.

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