P1 - The Murder of Ahmed Divela
Episode description
Part 1: "Ahmed was no coward".
On World Press Freedom Day (3rd May) 2018, the Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo, took to the stage in Accra to deliver a speech on press freedom. Ghana, had long been a beacon for press freedom and was selected to host the celebrations.
Just a few weeks later, TigerEye PI, the world famous undercover investigative unit led by Anas Aremeyaw Anas released their latest investigation, Number 12, which looked at corruption in professional football.
Around the same time, an MP, who disapproved of the methods of TigerEye PI, outed one of its undercover journalists, Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela, live on air by showing his picture and calling for him to be attacked.
A few months later Ahmed was shot and killed in a targeted assassination on the streets of Madina in Accra.
In these two episodes we will tell the story of Ahmed, his death, what it means for press freedom in Ghana and how the commercialisation of violence is a perfect opportunity for organized crime.
Speaker(s):
Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Multi-award winning Ghanaian Investigative Journalist and founder of the TigerEye PI, an investigative organisation in Ghana – famous motto “name, shame and jail”.
Jonathan Rozen, Senior Africa researcher at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Additional Reading:
Ahmed Divela - Faces of Assassination
The Ripple Effect: the impact of contract killings (Podcast)
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) - Four years since murder of Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela, Ghana’s journalists still attacked with impunity.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Freedom of the Press Index
(GITOC Paper) The business of killing: Assassinations in South Africa
(Deep Dive Podcast) Killing the Power of the Pen: Violence against journalists in Mexico - Part 1; Part 2.
(Deep Dive Podcast) Killing in Silence: The Global Assassination Monitor.
(Deep Dive Podcast) Guinea-Bissau Part 2: Pau de Sangue (Blood Timber).