State withdraws charges against Ernesto Yeboah over Black lives matter vigil

The leader of the Economic Fighters League, Ernesto Yeboah, has been discharged by the Accra Circuit Court 10.

He was discharged of the earlier charges of breach of the public order law.

It comes after the State withdrew the charges against the outspoken campaigner.

The vociferous Ernesto Yeboah was arrested and charged with breaching the public order act after he held a vigil on June 1, 2020, in honour of 46-year-old American, George Floyd, who was killed by Minnesota Police under bizarre circumstances.

Floyd’s murder sparked worldwide condemnation in which governments, including the Government of Ghana, spoke in unison against the ills of racist-induced police brutality.

In joining the global community to condemn the gruesome murder of George Floyd, Ghana’s Economic Fighters League organized a vigil at the Independence Square.

The widely publicized vigil was, however, disrupted by police on the night.

The Ghana Police Service had accused the Movement of breaching provisions of the Public Order Act which required police notification prior to such gatherings.

Even though the Movement insisted it had served the police with the required prior notification, police sources say the said notification had not reached them at the time of the vigil.

In court on Monday, March 15, 2021, however, Prosecutor, Chief Inspector, Emmanuel Haligah, told the court that the State was no longer interested in pursuing the charges.

Though reasons were not immediately assigned for the State’s sudden move after 9 months of prosecution, the court went ahead to strike out the case as prayed by the State.