Apologize to electric pole man and to the GJA, Khalid asks UWR Police.

Wa, Jan.23, GNA - Mr. Mahmud Khalid, Upper West Regional Minister, has asked the Regional Police Command to apologise to the man they tied to an electric pole in Wa on October 24 last year. He said it was unprofessional for the police to have tied the man against an electric pole for allegedly being rowdy and that they had infringed on his human rights.

Mr. Khalid was addressing members of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in the Region in Wa on the impasse between the Regional Police Command and the GJA over the arrest of Mr. James Donkor, a Journalist at Radio Progress, a local FM Station.

"I think there should have been better ways of handling the man if really he was found to be disruptive", he said, pointing out that whether the "police like it or not, people saw them carrying out the act and were prepared to give evidence so they must accept their guilt." He advised the Regional Command to also "express regret" for arresting Mr. Donkor for taking a photograph of someone who was allegedly tied to an electric pole by the police. Mr.Donkor was arrested and allegedly manhandled, handcuffed and detained thereby denying him of his fundamental human rights as a person and also as a Journalist. Mr. Khalid condemned the police action and said their action could have brought about a mob action from the youth and which consequences could have been disastrous.

He asked the Regional Police Command should investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators to book rather than trying to associate or smear him with the mess they had caused. "If the police find nothing wrong for tying a man against an electric pole, I do not think it is also wrong for any other person to take a picture of the man that they have tied, he said." Mr. Khalid however said that he would call a Regional Security Council's meeting with the Police and members of the GJA to find an amicable solution to the matter. The Regional Police Commander, Mr. Alex Bedie, had travelled outside Wa at the time of the meeting. 23 Jan.10