Recent arrest of journalists undemocratic - ILAPI boss

Executive Director of policy think, Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILAPI), Peter Bismark Kwofie, has described as undemocratic the arrest of journalists and activists in the country.

Responding to the arrest of Accra Fm’s Bobie Ansah, he said the best approach was for them to invite him instead of storming the station.

In a statement, he said the journalist is entitled to his opinion and must defend his actions through civil means.

“We are not running a chaos system but the degree of monopoly of violence of the state will cause the chaos. In an E-economy, you send E-invitation to the journalist,” he stated.

To the security agencies, he said “The actions of our security personnel should be of minimal force and every arrest must be done friendly because these activists and journalists make certain statements because of lack of accountability and information (data) on government activities.”

Read his full statement below

The way the security services embark on arrests of journalists and activists is undemocratic. The simplest thing to do is to invite Bobie Ansah to National Security or CID. He will not refuse the invitation but once the arrest looks like he has committed a felony or organizing a coup would make the exercise lose its importance to check and address issues of national security interest.

He (Bobie Ansah) is entitled to his opinion and must defend his actions through civil means. We are not running a chaos system but the degree of monopoly of violence of the state will cause the chaos. In an E-economy, you send E-invitation to the journalist.

The actions of our security personnel should be of minimal force and every arrest must be done friendly because these activists and journalists make certain statements because of lack of accountability and information (data) on government activities.

Those who are embezzling taxpayers contributions should be those who need to be arrested that way. They are the real threat to our peace and development.