One year ago, on May 24th, 2022, Noah Dameh was arrested by the Tema Regional Police for exercising his constitutional right to free speech on his Facebook to call out the violence of defenders of Electrochem Ghana Ltd. against the people of Ada. Though not alone, these defenders include the police. Throughout this past year, Noah has been harassed by the police continuously for his work in the community radio station Radio Ada: they have dismissed and re-opened his case multiple times, made false claims about his unwillingness to appear before court, rearrested him, and isolated him in police cells. The police and Electrochem have been twisting laws and procedures to criminalize Noah’s use of free speech: not only did Electrochem go to the police as its first recourse instead of the National Media Commission, as it was supposed to, but the sections of the Criminal Libel Law which the police then have used to prosecute him were repealed in 2010. Additionally, in Noah’s most recent appearance in court on May 4th, 2023, the police prosecutor pleaded ample time to produce witnesses, despite having this full year in which Noah has been prosecuted to build their case. It has been a year of learning in the face of this harassment and persecution, so on the anniversary of Noah’s arrest, Radio Ada would like to echo the need for solidarity in the fight against the criminalization of free speech in Ada. Journalists should not be criminalized for speaking up against the human rights abuses that the Dangme people are victim to in Ada today.
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