Reporters Without Borders to monitor probe into alleged assault on Citi FM's journalist

An international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), has pledged to ensure that a thorough investigation is carried out into claims by Citi FM and Citi TV Journalist, Caleb Kudah.

He said he was assaulted by some National Security operatives.

The Ministry of National Security, in a statement released on Thursday, May 13, 2021, said it has initiated investigations into the claims.

“The Ministry takes with all seriousness, the allegations of manhandling of the two journalists during the interrogation. The Ministry has therefore initiated investigations into the said allegations,” the Ministry said in a statement.

In a tweet on Friday, May 14, 2021, the France-based organisation, RSF, with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information, said it will ensure that the case is treated with all the seriousness it deserves.

“The Ministry of National Security said it has initiated a probe into alleged brutality against Caleb Kudah and [arrest of] Zoe Abu-Baidoo Addo. RSF will make sure that the investigation on this serious case is carried out effectively.”

Background

Caleb Kudah, who is also the host of BackPage, a satirical news show on Citi TV, was assaulted by some National Security operatives who detained him for filming some grounded MASLOC vehicles parked at the premises last Tuesday.

Another Citi FM Journalist, Zoe Abu-Baidoo Addo, was also picked up later at the premises of Citi FM for receiving the videos from Caleb Kudah.

About half a dozen heavily armed personnel turned up at the station and tried to detain her without following due process.

The leadership of the company subsequently escorted Zoe to the National Security Ministry where she was interrogated and allowed to go.

Mr. Kudah was also released later in the evening on Tuesday, May 11, 2021.

Mr. Kudah on The Point of View on Citi TV on Wednesday, May 12, 2021, revealed how he was physically assaulted by the National Security operatives who arrested him.

“They seized my phone and pushed me and I sat on the chair. They [National Security operatives] slapped me from the back. I was trying to appeal to them that they had beaten me enough, but they were just slapping me from the back. I'll be talking to another one and someone will just come and slap me from the back.”

He said one of the security operatives even kicked him in his groin.

---citinewsroom