The Lawyer for the eight Delta Force members in the Ashanti Region who were freed recently after they allegedly raided a Kumasi court has insisted that his clients cannot be re-arrested over the same crime.
The lawyer, Mathew Appiah’s comment comes on the back of several calls from especially members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for a possible re-arrest and re-trial of the court raiders who were freed for lack of evidence.
Mr. Appiah in a Citi News interview said the Attorney General cannot overturn the earlier decision of the State Attorney in Kumasi because he acted lawfully.
[contextly_sidebar id=”2FQx5dY4wVGXvOzXnk3pPhg6yooOEbp6″]“I wouldn’t believe that the Attorney General is dissatisfied with the decision that was taken by her agents in Ashanti Region. What I know is that the Ministry of Information has the right to come out and issue a statement as part of the government machinery but we will wait for the Attorney General to make a statement on this issue.”
“Because the law is that the chief state attorney in the Ashanti Region is a representative of the attorney general in Accra and the chief state attorney in Kumasi takes decisions on behalf of the Attorney General in Accra and that decision is binding on the Attorney General. So nobody can sit anywhere and take a decision that they are going to conduct any fresh investigation,” he explained.
Background
The eight Delta Force members were standing trial for vanderlising a Kumasi court and in the process setting free some of their members who were charged for assaulting the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator.
The Principal State Attorney in the case, Marie Louise-Simmons, who is the representation of the Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo, in her reply to a letter from the prosecutor for her legal opinion on the case, said the charges against the suspects must be dropped because there was insufficient evidence against them.
The court, presided over by Her Honour, Patricia Amponsah, subsequently discharged the accused and dismissed the case.
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin