A law lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology says certain portions of the Criminal Code must be revised "in tandem with the requirements of free speech" although "the law on the face may not violate free speech." Mr Kofi Abotsi said this will be necessary to ensure that certain "exceptions" are clearly outlined. "…to streamline the exceptions and detail the exceptions. [For example], to cause fear and alarm, these are the circumstances under which a publication would not be deemed to cause fear and alarm. For instance, published by a journalist even when it is deemed reckless. Again, we have to establish that it is deemed reckless," he told Kwaku Sakyi Addo, host of Joy FM’s news analysis show Newsfile. "I think if we had very strong institutions, this law could not have a problem but I think in the light of the difficulties we have with our institutions, vis-a-vis the fact that people complain about the police being instructed or instigated,...that is where we need to have laws that will create difficulties as far as your operation is concerned. Mr Abotsi’s suggestion comes amid recent police-press ill will that has caused enormous stir and generated headlines. A case in point is the police’s attempted prosecution of a Joy FM editor for airing a story predicated on death-threatening text messages which highly-placed executives of GREDA, who had pleaded anonymity, had received over the association's opposition to the STX Korea housing deal. Although GREDA had initially opposed the deal and presented its own proposal for consideration, the association beat a hasty retreat, citing lack of proper homework on its part. The threats picked up by the station had also suggested the association might no longer be awarded government contracts should it persist in its opposition to the deal. While the police initially told the editor in question he had been charged for “publishing false information to cause fear and alarm,” government later told the media the journalist was only cautioned. Mr Abotsi said following these developments and criticisms of the police's perceived high-handedness, the law must be retouched to ensure its application does not give room for controversy or "create future difficulties". "To avoid all these allegations, I think we need to have the law revised to reflect the current structure." "I think that the law must be revised in tandem with the requirements of free speech. The law on the face may not violate free speech," he said. The Editor-in-Chief of the Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako, said the law on causing fear and alarm has outlived its usefulness today. The “moribund law” was promulgated in the 1960s within a certain social environment to cure a certain mischief, Mr Baako indicated. While the debate continues on government’s use of the law to arrest and prosecute journalists, and questions of government’s media-friendliness are raised, the Member of Parliament for Okaikoi South, Nana Akomea, said the Mills-led administration has an agenda to crush Joy FM. Mr Akomea cited a press statement issued on the eve of the day of the interrogation of Ato Kwamena Dadzie, Acting Editor of Joy FM, which suggested the editor’s aversion for government. But as the controversy over reportage on the STX deal ebbs, government may still have a lot of explaining to do to convince the opposition that the deal, signed in Korea by a government delegation, is worth entering into. Story by Fiifi Koomson/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana