Senior Mediation Adviser of United Nations, Emmanuel Bombande says the environment for all journalists to work without fear must exist.

This comes after the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong was on Friday, July 9, reported to have verbally abused and threatened to attack Mr Erastus Asare Donkor, a journalist with The Multimedia Group, for the journalistic work that he (Erastus) did during the recent shootings and killing incident at Ejura.

The legislator was filmed on a live programme, on Net 2 TV, a television station owned by the MP, making those threats, which was widely published on social media platforms. Mr Agyapong stated among others, that, if he [Mr Agyapong] were President, he would have ensured that Erastus Asare Donkor is beaten mercilessly.

Mr Bombande wants the MP to be called to order adding that "it is in the interest of the NPP not to allow a prominent member of their party to be seen as the one who consistently has now become infamous as the one who threatens the security of media practitioners and they can do that in several ways."

“You can cause Ken Agyapong to issue an unqualified apology of its conduct towards media personnel because it might help to assuage the type of anger and unpopularity over his own action,” he added

He also suggested that Mr Agyapong can also be “engaged diplomatically and hope to change the behaviour of Hon Agyapong.”

According to him, the human rights law frowns on perpetrators of human rights breaches against media practitioners.

He, therefore, finds it unconscionable that such a threat will come from the MP who also doubles as Chairman of Parliament's Defence and Interior Committee.

“So there is a double edge sword here because the ones who bring to the limelight both nationally and internationally issues related to the protection of civilians and their rights are the media practitioners. When you threaten them, the international community takes notice but if the one who threatens them is a decision-maker, the Chair of a Parliamentary Defence and Interior Committee, the international community takes it at a much serious and higher level and that is why this becomes a very important issue for discussion,” he said.