The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has strongly criticised the one-year prison sentence handed to popular TikToker Camilla Alhassan, describing it as an attack on free speech, and has pledged to support her appeal.

In a statement issued on Thursday, July 16, the party expressed shock at the Accra Circuit Court’s decision to jail 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 should have been a civil lawsuit rather than criminal prosecution and imprisonment.

The party also raised concerns about the manner in which Camilla Alhassan was treated following her conviction, saying it undermined her dignity and public confidence in law enforcement.

It announced that it would support every lawful effort by 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 reaffirmed its commitment to defending the constitutional rights of Ghanaians to express their views freely and warned against actions that could undermine democratic freedoms in the country.