Editor of online news portal ModernGhana Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri has said he was denied thorough examination at Police Hospital after his torturous experience with the National Security.
Recounting how he and his colleagues were detained and abused by officials of the national security on the Morning Starr on Tuesday, Abugri said: “I visited the hospital for a check-up. I asked the doctor for a detailed examination but she refused. She says she could give me a detailed report if only I had a police medical form.”
According to Abugri, who was released on Saturday 29 June 2019 they were tortured and beaten by National Security operatives while in detention following a raid of their office and their subsequent arrest.
“When we were picked up, we were taken to a place for questioning. When it so happens that my answers were unfavourable to them, I was slapped. I was slapped severally,” he told Morning Starr Host Francis Abban on Tuesday.
“I was abused and tortured by the National Security Operatives. My friend, I cried like a baby.”
The National Security, however, said there was no physical abuse on Abugri and his colleagues.
“The Secretariat takes a very serious view of these claims and wishes to state, in no uncertain terms that these allegations are false. We consider it to be a clear and deliberate attempt by the suspect to discredit the investigations and the case against him.
“Torture and manhandling of suspects are not part and parcel of the culture and architecture of the secretariat under the administration of President Akufo-Addo,” a statement from National Security said.
Meanwhile, the country director for Amnesty International Robert Akoto Amoafo has called for action following reports of alleged National Security torture of some journalists working with modern Ghana.
He said the government must probe the matter to its logical conclusion and take action to redeem the image of the country.
“If what was just narrated as experience by Mr Abugri is really true then actions must be taken. It is important that as independent people judging the matter we know exactly what happened. There are State institutions who will have to do their work and speak to the matter.
“We don’t need our President to speak on everything that happens. He has put up state institutions to take care of various issues and so we should allow them to work,” he told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Tuesday.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM
