Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN,
Femi Falana, has called for the release of Samuel Ogundipe, a Premium Times
reporter.
The police arrested Ogundipe on
Wednesday over a report the organisation published on the sack of Lawal Daura,
former director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The police had reportedly asked
Ogundipe to disclose how he obtained the letter used for a story but the
journalist declined in line with the ethics of Journalism.
However Falana, in a statement
issued on Tuesday, called on PremiumTimes to institute an action in court
against the Nigerian Police Force, regardless of whether Mr Ogundipe is
subsequently released or kept in prison.
The statement read: “Whether
Samuel is released tonight or arraigned in court tomorrow by the police, PT
should take advantage of this unlawful demand of the police to challenge
criminal libel and other obnoxious anti-press laws in the statute book.
“While declaring seditious
publications illegal and unconstitutional in 1983 in Arthur Nwankwo v The
State; the Court of Appeal held that any public officer who feels defamed or
embarrassed by any publication should sue for libel and not use the machinery
of the State to harass his political opponents.
“The court proceeded to urge
Nigerians to resist any attempt to use any of the laws imported into the
country by the erstwhile colonial rulers to repress us.”
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com