The Chairman of the People’s National Convention [PNC], Bernard Mornah, has sued the Inspector General of Police [IGP], for allowing personnel of the Service to arrest him unlawfully, during a peaceful protest by the Ghana-Togo Solidarity movement in December 2017.
About 19 persons, including Mr. Mornah, were arrested by the Nima Police on December 16, 2017, when they gathered as members of the Ghana-Togo Solidarity movement, to hold a peaceful march to draw the attention of local and international authorities to the political crisis in Togo.
[contextly_sidebar id=”Lwd6R03ksfXJhhLRoMrsxbdaLknCTd50″]According to the Police, they had earlier permitted Bernard Mornah and his group to undertake the march, however, they informed him later to cancel it due to operational challenges and intelligence that another group was trying to interrupt their activity.
But Mr. Mornah denied the claim, saying that he had assured the Police the peaceful march required very little or no police presence.
Mornah also added the Attorney General to the suit, praying the court to declare that his rights have been trampled upon.
The PNC Chairman in his writ wants a declaration from the court to the effect that “my right to personal liberty has been violated… that my right to dignity has been violated… that my freedom of assembly, including freedom to take part in processions and demonstrations, has been violated…adjudge and declare that my right to administrative justice has been violated by the 1st respondent [IGP].”
He also wants the IGP and the Attorney General to compensate with “the sum of GHc136, 960.50 being the cost incurred by the Ghana-Togo solidarity movement in organizing the aborted rally.”
Police treated me worse than a drug lord
Bernard Mornah had earlier described the treatment meted out to him by the Police following his arrest as being worse than how convicted drug lords are handled.
“They just caught me like a cow, threw me in the bucket of the pickup as if I’m for the slaughterhouse. Two policemen jumped into the car with their guns on my head. When I pulled out my phone to call my lawyer, they said put off your phone or we’ll shoot you. They turned on their sirens, came onto the Kanda Highway and meandered through traffic with all motorists’ eyes on me. Escobar, the notorious drug baron, was not even treated the way I was treated.”
Kan-Dapaah ordered my arrest – Bernard Mornah alleges
Mr. Bernard Mornah is convinced that the frustration of his planned peace march was orchestrated by the National Security Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah.
According to him, the minister took the action in order to protect the image of the Togolese president, Faure Gnassingbe, whom he claims is Mr. Kan-Dapaah’s close friend.
‘Defiant’ Mornah stages another Ghana-Togo solidarity rally
Despite being frustrated early on, Mornah on December 30, 2017, led his group to stage the rally in Accra to draw the attention of local and international authorities to the political crisis in Togo.
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin