The presiding Judge, Thomas K. Ofiedie, adjourned the case after the prosecution team pleaded with the court to give them additional time to gather enough evidence for effective prosecution.

Juan Gen Hai was remanded into police custody on his first appearance in court on Wednesday, October 11, after Police Inspector Bernard Paa Ahinsan, who represented the state, prayed for two weeks to gather enough evidence to assist the prosecution.

The killing of Nana Boah sparked riots in Wassa Akropong with angry youth setting ablaze properties belonging to Chinese nationals in the area.

The Paramount Chief of the Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area, Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim II, had to intervene in the situation, and police had to relocate about 48 Chinese nationals to safety.

This was followed by the youth setting up checkpoints on the Wassa Akropong High street in search of Chinese nationals.

Meanwhile, counsel for the accused, Lawyer Adinkrah, is unhappy with delays on the part of the State in their evidence gathering.

He said the health of his client was deteriorating, and further asked the prosecution to conduct their investigation with speed.

He pleaded with the court to make an order for the accused to seek medical attention.

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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The District Police Commander for Wassa Amenfi East District, Superintendent Bright Boafo, who spoke to Citi News said even though the process for justice has begun, the command cannot guarantee the safety of the Chinese and their properties in the town.

[contextly_sidebar id=”brJOyqGe9BkIjTLizsx3Q5y4zfJX8H7d”]”We thought it wise not to keep them at the Wassa Akropong Police Station for fear that the youth may vandalize or demand a release for instant justice,”  he said.

Aside from this, Supt. Boafo said, “the regional commander came, he also directed that this matter should be investigated at the regional headquarters at Sekondi.”

Meanwhile, a group calling itself the Wassa Amenfi Youth Network for Development, has described the killing of Nana Boah as the culmination of a culture of intimidation, lawlessness of the Chinese in the area.

The group also said the Chinese in Wassa Amenfi abuse the freedom they enjoy, and also undermine the Ghanaian hospitality.

Frederick Korankye, the convener of the group, noted that attempts to foster cooperation  between the natives and the foreigners with the opening of the Wassa Amanfi Chapter of the Ghana-China Association was unsuccessful.

“However the unsuccessfulness of the process has partly contributed to the unguided and unregulated Chinese operations in our land,” he lamented.

“Most alarming is the use of weapons by Chinese to secure themselves and their existence here in our homeland,” Frederick Korankye added.

The anger in the area has seen other angry youth set up checkpoints on the Wassa Akropong High street in search of Chinese nationals following the killing last Friday.

The killing itself was met with riots on the day which resulted in about 14 cars belonging to the Chinese, as well as some of their shops being set ablaze by the youth.

About 48 Chinese nationals had to be relocated from the town to other areas for safety.

The story so far

Initial reports had suggested that the gun was accidentally fired by the Chinese killing the Ghanaian, during an altercation between two Chinese nationals at a Casino.

Eyewitnesses told Citi News that the incident was triggered when a plumber who was hired by some Chinese nationals to undertake some services called on the deceased, as a witness, after the Chinese refused to pay the GHc150 he charged.

During the confrontation, a gun brought out by one of the Chinese was seized by the two Ghanaians but a second gun was reportedly fired by the Chinese, killing the witness, Nana Boamah instantly.

The incident angered the youth of the town who burnt and vandalized properties belonging to the Chinese nationals.

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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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There had been chaotic scenes since last Friday after a 30-year-old Ghanaian, Nana Boah, a lotto operator, was shot by a Chinese national after a dispute over services rendered by another resident, who is a plumber.

[contextly_sidebar id=”UE1xFhM3MUqlnIU5ijD8dhekJxI34u6j”]The youth are demanding prosecution of the Chinese national who carried out the dastardly act, as the police have made four arrests so far.

But the arrests have done little to appease the irate youth who are bent on ensuring that Wassa Akropong is rid of all Chinese, even after the intervention of the Paramount Chief of the Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area, Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim II on Saturday.

However, by Sunday, the youth had set up checkpoints with revenge on their minds, as they lamented the seeming neo-colonization by Chinese leading to the area also adopting the name ‘Wassa Shanghai’.

There is already a sense of resentment for Chinese because of their involvement in illegal mining, especially in the Western Region.

One of the youths who spoke to Citi News said: “The problem is that our brother has been killed. We don’t understand. We see it as a modernization of slave trade. We are in our own country, but we are still under the slave trade. The Chinese have modernized the slave trade.”

“They come from their country and come and kill our brother over here, and the military and the police are still protecting the Chinese which is very bad and we don’t understand.”

He questioned further why the security personnel were preventing them from “also taking revenge” following the death on Friday, said they want to ensure that all Chinese nationals are driven out of the area.

“People are keeping the Chinese in their houses, they are protecting them and we don’t want that. We want all the Chinese away from Akropong. That is all that we want. We don’t want any Chinese in Akropong again. We are fed up with them. They should go to their home country.”

The story so far

Initial reports had suggested that the gun was accidentally fired by the Chinese killing the Ghanaian, during an altercation between two Chinese nationals at a Casino.

Eyewitnesses told Citi News that the incident was triggered when a plumber who was hired by some Chinese nationals to undertake some services called on the deceased, as a witness, after the Chinese refused to pay the GHc150 he charged.

During the confrontation, a gun brought out by one of the Chinese was seized by the two Ghanaians but a second gun was reportedly fired by the Chinese, killing the witness, Nana Boamah instantly.

The incident angered the youth of the town who burnt and vandalized properties belonging to the Chinese nationals.

14 cars burnt, Chinese business demolished 

So far, about 14 cars belonging to the Chinese, as well as some of their shops, have been burnt by the irate youth.

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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Wassa Akropong: Youth set up checkpoints to hunt down Chinese appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Amnesty International condemned the sentence, handed down by a judge in Khartoum, as “appalling and abhorrent”.

Local media report the sentence on the woman, who is pregnant, would not be carried out for two years after she had given birth.

Sudan has a majority Muslim population, which is governed by Islamic law.

“We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged to death,” the judge told the woman, AFP reports.

Western embassies and rights groups had urged Sudan to respect the right of the pregnant woman to choose her religion.

The judge also sentenced the woman to 100 lashes after convicting her of adultery – because her marriage to a Christian man was not valid under Islamic law.

This will reportedly be carried out when she has recovered from giving birth.

Earlier in the hearing, an Islamic cleric spoke with her in a caged dock for about 30 minutes, AFP reports.

Then she calmly told the judge: “I am a Christian and I never committed apostasy.”

Rival protesters

Amnesty International said the woman, Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag, was raised as an Orthodox Christian, her mother’s religion, because her father, a Muslim, was reportedly absent during her childhood.

In court, the judge addressed her by her Muslim name, Adraf Al-Hadi Mohammed Abdullah.

She was convicted of adultery on the grounds that her marriage to a Christian man from South Sudan was void under Sudan’s version of Islamic law, which says Muslim women cannot marry non-Muslims.

The woman was originally sentenced to death on Sunday but given until Thursday to return to Islam.

There were small groups of protesters outside the court – both her supporters and those who back the punishment.

About 50 people chanting “No to executing Meriam” were confronted by a smaller group who supported the verdict, but there was no violence.

Amnesty’s Sudan researcher Manar Idriss condemned the punishments, saying apostasy and adultery should not be considered crimes.

“The fact that a woman has been sentenced to death for her religious choice, and to flogging for being married to a man of an allegedly different religion is appalling and abhorrent,” he said.

The BBC’s Osman Mohamed, in Khartoum, says death sentences are rarely carried out in Sudan.

Her lawyers plan an appeal to a higher court to get the sentence overturned.

On Tuesday, the embassies of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands issued a joint statement expressing “deep concern” about the case and urging Sudan to respect the right to freedom of religion, AFP says.

The woman was arrested and charged with adultery in August 2013, and the court added the charge of apostasy in February 2014 when she said she was a Christian and not a Muslim, Amnesty said.

The group called for her immediate release.

She is said to be eight months’ pregnant.

Source: BBC

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Mariam Yahya Ibrahim had been ordered to abandon her newly adopted Christian faith and return to Islam. She had also been charged with adultery for marrying a Christian man.

Judge Abbas al Khalifa asked Ibrahim whether she would return to Islam. After she said “I am a Christian” the death sentence was handed down, the judicial sources said.

Outside the court, about 50 people held up signs that read “Freedom of Religion”, while some Islamists celebrated the ruling, chanting “God is Greatest”.

Young Sudanese university students have mounted a series of protests near Khartoum University in recent weeks asking for an end to human rights abuses, more freedoms and better social and economic conditions.

Western embassies and Sudanese activists have condemned what they said were human rights abuses and called on the Sudanese Islamist-led government to respect freedom of faith.

Source: Reuters

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Mariam Yahya Ibrahim was charged with apostasy as well as adultery for marrying a Christian man, something prohibited for Muslim women to do and which makes the marriage void.

The final ruling will be announced on Thursday. Ibrahim’s case was the first of its kind to be heard in Sudan.

Young Sudanese university students have mounted a series of protests near Khartoum University in recent weeks asking for an end to human rights abuses, more freedoms and better social and economic conditions. The authorities decided on Sunday to close the university indefinitely.

Western embassies and Sudanese activists sharply condemned the accusations and called on the Sudanese Islamist-led government to respect freedom of faith.

“The details of this case expose the regime’s blatant interference in the personal life of Sudanese citizens,” Sudan Change Now Movement, a youth group, said in a statement.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s government is facing a huge economic and political challenge after the 2011 secession of South Sudan, which was Sudan’s main source of oil.

A decision by Bashir last year to cut subsidies and impose austerity measures prompted violent protests in which dozens were killed and hundreds were injured.

Credit: Reuters

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