News:
June 11, 2014
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu Constituency, Alex Afenyo-Markin wants the Police to apologize to the 31 women who were arrested for alleged prostitution on Monday.
He is also calling on women’s groups in Ghana to rise up and take on the Police for the said act.
31 commercial sex workers and two of their male patrons were on Monday arrested in a police swoop in Accra.
The swoop was undertaken by the Cantonments Police.
According to Mr. Afenyo-Markin, there is no proof that the women were indeed soliciting for sex when they were arrested.
“You cannot see somebody on the streets of Accra at night and claim that he is a commercial sex worker, arrest the person, take her to the Police Station, take photographs of her and claim that she has admitted in a caution statement she is a commercial sex worker,” he remarked.
He disclosed that even though the suspects may have made an incriminating statement against themselves, the Supreme Court has clearly made a stance on such a situation that such a statement “does not make that person guilty.”
The Effutu lawmaker condemned the actions of the Police saying, “it was wrong in law and they must apologize to those women.”
He was of the opinion that the Police could have charged the women for public nuisance rather that parading them “on front pages and saying that these are prostitutes.”
Source: citifmonline