Shamima Muslim defends constitutional rights of women facing court over hate speech

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson, Shamima Muslim has called for the constitutional rights of women facing legal proceedings to be respected, citing the case of senior nursing officer Salomey Awiti Bafoh, who is standing trial over her alleged connection to TikTok personality Barbara Asantewaa Kodua, popularly known as Ghana Jollof.

Speaking on Good Morning Ghana, Shamima said a woman’s involvement in a legal process should not deprive her of the protections guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution.

“As a woman, any woman that finds herself at the wrong side of the law who is going through a certain process, I can empathise with that situation, as is the right thing for every woman to do,” she said.

Salomey Bafoh is facing a charge of abetment of crime, to wit, publication of false news, in connection with allegations surrounding the circulation of content associated with Ghana Jollof. She has pleaded not guilty.

Shamima stressed that being accused of an offence did not remove an individual’s constitutional protections, while acknowledging that everyone remained subject to the law.

“Everybody deserves the protection of the Constitution. But no one is above the law. But everyone deserves the protection of the 1992 Constitution, including those women who have found themselves at the wrong side of the law,” she said.

The NDC communicator also weighed in on the controversy surrounding the arrest of Baffour Awuah and the involvement of a female Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) officer who was assigned to carry out the arrest.

She questioned suggestions that the female officer may have been deliberately chosen because her presence could provoke Mr Awuah into assaulting her.

“Is the MP prone to assaulting women that you now feel that if they sent the woman to test this MP so that the MP would assault the woman?” she asked.

According to Shamima, the officer should be viewed as an experienced security professional carrying out an official duty rather than being defined primarily by her gender.

“This woman is not me. It is not a Kay woman. It is an over 15-year-experienced woman in the security service. They sent a woman to come and arrest me,” she said.

She maintained that concerns about the manner in which an arrest is conducted could be discussed without questioning the professionalism of the officer involved.

“Whether or not you agree with the mode of operation, a genuine conversation we must have to sanitise our system,” she said.

Shamima further argued that women involved in legal proceedings should be allowed to pursue their cases through the appropriate judicial processes and seek redress where necessary.

“It is the same arena of the judiciary that they would seek their redress from court,” she said.