A lawyer and member of pressure group, Occupy Ghana, Ace Ankomah, has suggested that the Attorney-General appeal the fines handed out to the 13 members of the New Patriotic Party-affiliated Delta Force, who assaulted the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator.
The 13, who were charged with rioting, walked free after paying GHc 1,800 each, and signing a bond to be of good behaviour for 12 months.
[contextly_sidebar id=”qlRpdhmvEVz8QJaCRn28oC4WWEAqXVhI”]”…If they feel the fines are not big enough, then the AG could appeal against not the conviction, but the sentencing; the amount of the fine, to give another court the opportunity to review,” Mr. Ankomah opined on Eyewitness News.
He stressed that, such a course of action would be important because the NPP government “must send a message to Ghanaians that it will not tolerate impunity.”
The government has been criticized for its relaxed approach against the acts of lawlessness from elements within its party.
The Delta Force case was viewed as the perfect avenue for the government to send a strong message to such acts, especially during the first court appearance of the 13, where escaped from lawful custody, after eight of their compatriots sparked confusion in the court in protest of the Judge’s ruling that the 13 be remanded and not given bail.
The Delta Force members suspected to have stormed the court were arrested but set free for supposed lack of evidence.
Ace Ankomah described that incident as worse than the Montie Three who threatened the lives of Supreme Court Justices, landing themselves four-month jail sentences.
“Storming the court to free people who are on trial is worse than sitting on radio and threatening the court. It is worse, so we expect that the system will treat it with the seriousness that it requires, but as it turns out, all we are left with is feeling high and dry.”
“It feeds the perception that if your government is in power, somehow, you can get away with such acts,” the lawyer added. We warned further that, such occurrences “are emboldening more people to storm a police station to free somebody who has been arrested, to storm a DCE’s Office to scare the person out of office.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana