Police explain charge against Joy FM Acting Editor

Head of Public Public Affairs Directorate, DSP Kwesi Ofori   Email   Print Have Your Say ( 51 )         Acting Joy FM News Editor faces criminal charge for refusing to disclose sources behind broadcast alleging threats on GREDA executives but the police say their action is part of efforts to "protect life and property". Ato Kwamena Dadzie was granted bail by police after he was officially charged on Monday. It follows his refusal to name persons who were alleged to have told the station that they had received threats for opposing the STX housing deal. Government issued a strongly-worded denial of the story soon after it was aired on Joy FM about a fortnight ago. It denied members of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) had been threatened either with death or abrogation of their contracts. Government then requested a retraction of the story and an apology while requesting the police administration to investigate the report. But speaking on Joy FM on Tuesday, Head of the Police Public Affairs, DSP Kwesi Ofori said the original intent of the police was not to arrest Ato. "Our intention was not to send him to court," DSP Kwesi Ofori told Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, host of the Super Morning Show. According to him the police has over the year's been in "a symbiotic relationship" with the press and would only always work to ensure the two entities complement each other. Denying the action of the police was influenced by some faceless individuals in government, DSP Ofori said the police have a duty to investigate the case and "protect life and property" as well as bring to book the "perpetrators of the [text] messages." Mr. Dadzie says he refused to disclose sources of the story when officials of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) demanded he did so or face prosecution. The case has however been sent to Attorney General for advice, DSP Ofori disclosed, adding the news editor is not due for court "today or tomorrow" as being circulated in some sections of the media. Source: Joy News/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana Fiifi Koomson contributed reporting