Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor
Ministry of The Interior
Accra, Ghana

16 July 2008

Dear Minister,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to express our serious concern at death threats made against Gina Ama Blay, the Chief Executive Officer of The Daily Guide.

Ms Blay, who represents the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana on the Board of the World Association of Newspapers, has received threatening text messages and telephone calls on numerous occasions from someone claiming to be a soldier in the Ghana Armed Forces. The caller also claimed to have followed her son, and said: “he will not be lucky next time.”

Ms Blay has informed the police about the death threats but fears that her life and the life of her son remain in danger.

We respectfully remind you that it is the duty of the state to provide an environment in which publishers and journalists are able to carry out their professional duties without fear of intimidation. Such incidents foster a climate of fear that inhibits journalistic investigation and can promote self-censorship.

We respectfully call on you to ensure that the threats received by Ms Blay are thoroughly investigated and that those responsible are swiftly brought to justice.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Gavin O’Reilly
President
World Association of Newspapers

Xavier Vidal-Folch
President
World Editors Forum

WAN is the global organization for the newspaper industry, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organization groups 18,000 newspapers in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional and world-wide press groups. WAN is non-governmental and non-profit.