Omroep ZWART condemns the way in which rapper and poet Akwasi pressured employees of the EO at the end of December to hand over recordings of an interview with him. The aspiring broadcaster co-founded by the rapper and poet does this in a statement on Saturday Instagram.
“Freedom of the press, freedom of expression and respect for the journalistic profession are crucial to us and are never under discussion”, according to Omroep ZWART. “What happened during the interview is absolutely not in line with the course and mission of Omroep Zwart.”
“We are pursuing our ambition to become the most connecting broadcaster in the Netherlands,” the broadcaster continues. “Where everyone is seen and everyone is heard.”
In January, it was announced that Akwasi had EO presenter Hans van der Steeg during an interview forced to delete recordings with him. Shortly afterwards, he apologized and let him know consider about his role within Omroep ZWART.
The Public Prosecution Service then announced that it would not prosecute Awkasi. Another factor in the decision was that the EO had not reported the incident.
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