News:
May 23, 2017
The Minority in Parliament is demanding that the freed hooligans and members of the Delta Force must be rearrested and prosecuted with immediate effect.
Addressing a hurriedly organised press conference, the leader of the Minority, Haruna Iddrisu says the decision by the prosecution to enter a nolle prosequi in the infamous Delta Force court invasion scandal is bias, and capricious.
He does not understand how the Attorney General will claim to have no evidence of how the suspects in the scandal invaded the court and freed suspects who were standing trial before the court when indeed facebook and twitter are littered with videos and pictures of the unfortunate attack.
He said justice must be done and it must be seen to be done, failing which the independence of the judiciary will be grossly undermined.
The press conference is in reaction to a shocking decision by a Circuit Court in Kumasi to discharge eight suspects and members of the NPP vigilante group Delta Force for lack of evidence.
The eight, last month besieged the courts with chants, insults, disrupted the court process and freed their colleagues who were standing trial for attacking the Ashanti Region security coordinator.
Videos of the vigilante group invading the court went viral, with the Ghana Bar Association, Christian Council and other identifiable groups all condemning the incident.
In the face of the criticisms, the IGP, Asante Appeatu, Interior Minister Ambrose Dery and the president Nana Akufo-Addo all promised to ensure that culprits are dealt with under the law.
True to their assurances, the 13 suspects who escaped from the court voluntarily returned to police custody. They were later fined Ȼ2,400.00 for breaking custody.
In addition, eight of the suspects who were said to have masterminded the attack on the court were also arrested with the promise to prosecute them.
Barely a month after the arrest, the eight suspects were on Wednesday discharged by the Circuit Court in a ruling that has shocked many Ghanaians and angered the minority in particular.
The eight are Abass Caesar, Ebenezer Opoku, Samuel Yeboah, Kofi Fosu, Christian Anokye. The others are Kwame Frempong, Eric Kusi and Abdul Suleman Odudu.
At a press conference the Minority Leader said the decision is evidence of a government pandering to partisan pressure at the cost of justice delivery and respect for the rule of law.
This can undermine the independence of the judiciary,” he said adding the decision by the court is in violation of Article 296 (a) and (b) of the constitution, both of which talks about the exercise of discretionary powers
Reminding the president of his commitment to the rule of law, a commitment he reiterated during his state of the nation address, Haruna Iddrisu said the president must demonstrate leadership and uphold the rule of law.
Rights of Judge
He said the judge, Mary Sankyire who was insulted and intimidated by the “hoodlums” has every right to work in a free independent environment without any form of intimidation.
He said the actions by the culprits are condemnable and qualify for criminal contempt.