Court Frees 7 Protesters

Flashback: Some protesters leaving the court

 

Seven out of the 54 persons arrested during a demonstration organised by a group calling itself ‘Democracy Hub’ against illegal mining, were yesterday discharged by a Circuit Court in Accra.

This was after the prosecution dropped the charges against them, thereby discontinuing their trial.

This comes barely three weeks after the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, urged the Ghana Police Service to swiftly conclude investigations so as to free all those against whom sufficient evidence cannot be found to proceed further.

The seven are Kingsley Asiedu, Seth Cofie, Vera Gloria Louis, Nii Quaye Hammond, Manuel Biney, Dorsese Joseph and Ernest Acheampong.

Amanda Awadi, a State Attorney yesterday told the court that the prosecution had taken the decision to discontinue the matter against the seven persons.

She said in light of the development, the prosecution will file another charge sheet and substitute it on the next adjourned date.

“Just to be clear, we are still proceeding against Dela Quarshie and Agbevi Matthias,” she stated, adding that they have filed a second batch of disclosures.

Defence lawyers, however, indicated that they have not been served with the second batch of the filed disclosures.

The court also heard that one of the accused persons has complained that one of his mobile phones was not returned to him.

The presiding judge, Kwabena Kodua Obiri-Yeboah, discharged the seven and adjourned the case to November 21, 2024.

Trial

Fifty-four (54) persons were charged with offences including unlawful assembly, unlawful damage, offensive conduct conducive to breach of peace, assault on a public officer and defacement of public property, while Oliver Barker-Vormawor was separately charged with stealing a key from a police vehicle and throwing it away.

The demonstration, which began on September 21, 2024, became chaotic on September 22 with some of the protesters caught on video defacing billboards and political party paraphernalia, while others were caught in an altercation with police officers sent to the scene to maintain law and order.

Oliver Barker-Vormawor was caught on video removing the key from a police vehicle and throwing it away during the chaotic moment.

They all pleaded not guilty to the charges, and their lawyers took turns to plead with the court to grant the accused persons bail.

They were initially remanded into custody but the Circuit Court as well as the High Court later granted all the accused persons bail.

The discharge of the seven now leaves 47 people who are still standing trial for their alleged involvement in the chaotic demonstration.

BY Gibril Abdul Razak

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