31 More Protesters Get Bail, AG Files Trial Papers

The suspects leaving the court premises

 

Another group of 31 persons arrested during the ‘Democracy Hub’ demonstration against illegal mining were yesterday granted bail by a Circuit Court in Accra.

They, together with 22 other persons, are standing trial for offences including unlawful assembly, assault on public officers and unlawful damage.

The court presided over by Kwabena Kodua Obiri-Yeboah, granted all the accused persons a bail of GH¢20,000 each with one surety each.

This brings to 52, the number of persons who have been granted bail by the High Court and the Circuit Court.

Lawyers for Oliver Barker-Vormawor, one of the leaders of the group, yesterday made another attempt to secure bail for him, following their inability to previously secure his release from police custody, both at the Circuit Court and the High Court.

They had relied on the 72-hour ultimatum given by the High Court for his trial to commence else it would reconsider his bail application, and the fact that the prosecution was not able to file all of its disclosures which paves way for the commencement of the trial.

But the trial judge indicated that the 72 hours is technically not over, hence encouraged the lawyers to formally file an application for bail, addressing the fact that Barker-Vormawor was already standing trial for treason felony when he allegedly committed these new offences.

This, Judge Obiri-Yeboah indicated, will enable the prosecution to respond appropriately before the court could make a determination.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Attorney General has filed what it describes as the first batch of disclosures which it will be relying on to prove the guilt of the accused persons.

A State Attorney, Nana Akosua Kusi, yesterday told the court that their delay in filing the disclosures were as a result of circumstances beyond their control, adding that they filed the documents as soon as they received them from the police.

The defence lawyers were served with the documents in the courtroom before the commencement of the case.

Judge Obiri-Yeboah has adjourned the cases, which have been divided into five, with his court hearing four of them, to October 14 and October 22, 2024, for case management conference.

He also ordered the prosecution to file witness statements for the witnesses they would be calling and serve same on the accused persons before the next court dates.

Arrest

Fifty-four persons have been charged with offences including unlawful assembly, unlawful damage, offensive conduct conducive to breach of peace, assault on a public officer and defacement of public property, while Barker-Vormawor was separately charged with stealing a key from a police vehicle and throwing it away.

The demonstration, which began on September 21, 2024, became chaotic on September 22 with some of the protesters caught on video defacing billboards and political party paraphernalia, while others were caught in an altercation with police officers sent to the scene to maintain law and order.

Oliver Barker-Vormawor was caught on video removing the key from a police vehicle and throwing it away during the chaotic moment.

They all pleaded not guilty to the charges, and their lawyers took turns to plead with the court to grant the accused persons bail, stressing on the alleged mistreatment they suffered while in police custody, and that the police are under resourced to adequately cater for the accused persons.

BY Gibril Abdul Razak

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