Punish state officials who flouted court order for Afoko’s bail –OccupyGhana
Ghanaian pressure group, OccupyGhana, on Tuesday called for an investigation into circumstances leading to the refusal of state officials to comply with an Accra High Court bail order in favour of an accused person, Gregory Afoko.
The group is also calling for the punishment of state officials who violated the order of the court, a statement sighted by The Ghana Report (TGR) stated.
OccupyGhana said, “Ordinarily we would hesitate to comment on a matter that is pending in court. But we must be concerned when there is any appearance of gross and blatant violations of the constitutional rights of any citizen.”
“Definitely, the actions of agents of the state in refusing to allow an accused person to take full advantage of a court order of bail, thereby holding him in illegal custody until a trial court makes a different bail order, should be repugnant to all.”
According to OccupyGhana, it is a fundamental right for every person to be considered and treated as innocent until proven guilty. The group said the criminal justice system must therefore not be manipulated to punish any person who has not been found guilty of any crime.
The pressure group contends that it was wrong for the state officials to have kept the accused person in detention once he met the bail conditions after the state applied and lost a stay of execution of the bail order.
“Once Mr. Afoko met the bail conditions, his continued detention for even one second was grossly wrong, blatantly unconstitutional and an egregious slap in the face of basic human rights, constitutionalism and the Rule of Law.”
“The people of Ghana enacted this Constitution and stated in its Preamble that we believe in the blessings of liberty; Freedom, Justice, Probity and Accountability; the Rule of Law and the protection and preservation of Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms. If we lose or compromise these core principles, we would be lost as a people. We must all strive and fight to protect these. No one is above the law.”
Gregory Afoko, a farmer aged 50 -who is a brother to Paul Afoko, former National Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP)-, was picked up in 2015, few hours after Adams Mahama, former Upper East Chairman of the NPP, died of acid wounds.
The deceased is said to have mentioned Gregory Afoko’s name and one Issah Musah, a driver to his wife, as the people responsible for the acid attack, prior to his death.
The two were arrested and placed before an Accra Central Magistrate Court to stand trial in connection with the fatal acid attack on Mahama.
According to the prosecution, led by Superintendent Francis Baah, the accused persons on May 20, 2015 at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region intentionally and unlawfully caused the death of Adams Mahama.
Asabke Alangdi, an accomplice who was said to have conspired with the two to murder Mahama, however run away from arrest.
The country’s Attorney-General (A-G) in January 2019 filed a nolle prosequi to discontinue the trial of Afoko following the arrest of Alangdi, the other accused person, in Ivory Coast after over a year of surveillance and search, during which period he moved camps from Burkina Faso to Ivory Coast.
Afoko has been in custody since his arrest and efforts by his lawyer to get him admitted to bail proved futile on many occasions until in March this year when he was granted bail by the court.