Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has criticised the one-year prison sentence handed to TikToker Camilla Alhassah, arguing that while her comments about President John Mahama were "reprehensible," they should not have attracted a custodial sentence.

In a Facebook post reacting to the judgment, Awuni said Alhassah's conduct was "defamatory, which isn't a criminal or jailable offence," stressing that if such conduct were to be criminalised, "we wouldn't have enough prisons to contain people".

He maintained that although Alhassah failed to prove her allegations against the president and her claims were, therefore, false, the offence of publishing false news requires more than the publication of false information.

According to him, for the offence to be criminal, the publication must be capable of provoking fear and alarm among the public, adding that this threshold was not met in Alhassah's case.

Awuni also expressed "disappointment in the judicial system that is going this way," saying some judges were accepting what he described as "frivolous charges" and imposing custodial sentences in such cases.

He warned that the trend was "not good for our democracy," arguing that the world was watching Ghana's handling of free speech issues and cautioning that those applauding the conviction today could find themselves in similar circumstances in future.