Torture: Release interrogation footage – Cudjoe to National Security

The founding President and Chief Executive Officer of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe has charged the National Security to release audio and video recordings of the interrogation of Mr Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri, the Deputy Editor of ModernGhana, who alleges torture during his detention by the operatives.

Mr Abugri and a reporter of the online portal, Mr Emmanuel Britwum, were arrested by National Security operatives last Thursday.

They were alleged to be involved in cybercrimes and hacking, which they have denied.

Mr Ajarfor, after his release, claimed he was tortured by the security operatives but the National Security has refuted the claims.

Reacting to the development, Mr Cudjoe stated on his Facebook wall on Thursday, 4 July 2019 that the security operatives should make public the interrogation proceedings captured on record.

“I am aware that our national security institutions do have audio and visual recordings of their interrogations. They should simply make those involving the ModernGhana journalists available to the public,” he stated.

Mr Cudjoe further admonished the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to launch a probe into the allegations as “torture is a serious offence”.

In his opinion, “Journalists should not be manhandled in the course of their work even if they are alleged to have committed infractions against the state”.