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Prof Karikari slams BNI for arresting editor

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The Executive Director of Media Foundation for West Africa Prof Kwame Karikari has slammed the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) for wrongful arrest and detention of the Editor of the Daybreak Newspaper, Prince Prah. Prince Prah was allegedly swindled by BNI officials who promised to give him a story but ended up arresting him for a story he had published. The paper claimed the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt Gen Augustine Blay is on his way out after falling out with President John Mills. The story has been vehemently dismissed by the Presidency and Public Affairs unit of the Ghana Armed Forces. But the editor was reported to have been handcuffed and bundled into a car by security officials on Wednesday before being interrogated at the BNI in the absence of his lawyer. Prince Prah told Joy News he was not physically molested but the embarrassing circumstances under which he was handcuffed like a common criminal is an experience dreadful enough. He was later released Wednesday evening. In a reaction on Joy News the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa Prof Kwame Karikari described the action by the BNI as unprofessional. Under no circumstances, he said, should a journalist be treated like a common criminal for publishing a story. He noted that even if a story is not true there are civilised and better ways of handling the journalist involved other than the embarrassing circumstances Prince Prah was made to go through. He said such acts by the security officials could cow the media practitioners and journalists into submission. Prof Karikari was also critical about the standard and unprofessionalism exhibited by some media practitioners. He conceded some journalists fabricate stories to tarnish the image of people but believed the antidote was not to treat them as common criminals. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.