"Jailing Camila Alhassan Is a Grave Injustice Against Free Speech"

The Minority Caucus in Parliament has launched a blistering attack on the Mahama administration over what it describes as an escalating assault on freedom of expression, demanding the immediate release of jailed TikToker Camila Alhassan and the repeal of Sections 207 and 208 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act.

Addressing a press conference in Parliament on Friday, Minority Leader Osahen Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin accused the government of using criminal laws to silence critics, warning that Ghana risks reversing the gains made when criminal libel laws were repealed in 2001.

According to the Minority, the conviction of Ms. Alhassan represents a dangerous precedent that threatens the constitutional right to free speech.

“We have called you here because a young Ghanaian, Camila Alhassan, is at this hour in prison, sentenced yesterday, Thursday, July 16, 2026, to one year with hard labour, for a TikTok video. We say plainly: this should trouble every Ghanaian, whatever their party colours,” Mr. Afenyo-Markin said.

Ms. Alhassan was convicted under Section 207 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960, which criminalises “offensive conduct conducive to a breach of the peace.”

The Minority further claimed that despite her conviction, the Ghana Police Service intends to prosecute her again under Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act over the same social media post.

Describing the sentence as excessive and unjustified, the Minority Leader said, “A one-year custodial sentence, with hard labour, for a social media post is not proportionate. It is not justice. It is a warning shot fired at every Ghanaian who owns a smartphone.”

The Minority argued that Ms. Alhassan’s case is not isolated but forms part of what it called a growing pattern of arrests and prosecutions targeting government critics.

It cited the arrests or prosecutions of Kwame Baffoe (Abronye DC), Alhassan Abdul Rahaman, Alfred Ababio Kumi, David Essandoh, and broadcaster Counsellor George Lutterodt, insisting the cases point to a systematic attempt to intimidate citizens for expressing their views.

According to the Caucus, although the Kufuor administration repealed Ghana’s criminal and seditious libel laws in 2001 under then Attorney-General Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Sections 207 and 208 have effectively become “criminal libel through the back door.”

“When a person can be arrested, remanded and marched before a Circuit Court for a video, a Facebook post or a petition to the President merely because the content is thought to be insulting, offensive or embarrassing to those in power, the State has recreated criminal libel in every respect that matters,” Mr. Afenyo-Markin stated.

He further alleged that security agencies have adopted intimidating tactics, including pre-dawn arrests by masked officers, to instil fear among government critics.

“That is not the posture of a state responding to a genuine threat to public order. It is the posture of a state seeking to make an example, to frighten the next commentator into silence before they press ‘post’,” he said.

The Minority also argued that Ghana is falling behind international democratic standards, noting that the United Kingdom has removed the word “insulting” from similar public order legislation, while courts in Kenya and Zambia have struck down comparable laws as unconstitutional.

While condemning irresponsible speech, the Caucus maintained that civil remedies already exist for defamation and that criminal sanctions should not be used against speech that merely offends or embarrasses public officials.

The Minority further accused the government of selective enforcement, questioning why only critics of the Mahama administration appear to be prosecuted under the provisions.

“We are yet to see a single government-aligned commentator arrested for the reckless claims and personal attacks that circulate daily in support of this government,” Mr. Afenyo-Markin asserted.

The Caucus also reminded President John Dramani Mahama of his background as a former journalist and member of the Ghana Journalists Association, urging him to act in defence of free expression.

“A President who understands what it is to file a story that offends someone in authority ought to be the last person in this Republic to preside over the criminal prosecution of a citizen for an insult, a rumour, or an inconvenient claim,” the Minority Leader said.

Calling for bipartisan support, the Minority appealed to the Majority Caucus to back legislation repealing Sections 207 and 208, arguing that laws used against today’s opposition could easily be used against future governments.

The Caucus demanded the immediate withdrawal of all pending prosecutions under the two provisions, including the planned second prosecution against Camila Alhassan, the release of anyone serving sentences under the laws, the speedy repeal of Sections 207 and 208, and a public assurance from government that no Ghanaian would face criminal prosecution for speech that is merely critical, embarrassing or unwelcome to those in power.

“Ghana chose, in 2001, to be the country that led Africa away from criminal insult laws. We are asking this Parliament, in 2026, to finish that journey,” Mr. Afenyo-Markin concluded.

Source: Felix NYAABA/ExpressNewsGhana.com