Aisha Huang and 4 Chinese galamseyers granted bail

The Accra High Court on Friday morning granted bail to En Huang a.k.a. Aisha and four other Chinese alleged illegal miners (galamsey).

Huang was granted bail in the sum of Ghc 500,000 with two sureties , all to be justified.

The four other Chinese were each granted bail in the sum of Ghc 500,000 with one surety, to be justified.

Graphic Online's Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson reported the court said all the sureties must be Ghanaians and their residence must be verified.

Also, the passports and travelling documents of all the accused persons must be deposited with the court registrar for onward transfer to the Director General of the Ghana Immigration Service.

The court, presided over by Mr Justice Charles Ekow Baiden also ordered the five Chinese to report to the Inspector -General of Police twice a week and also to the Director -General of GIS twice in a week.

The case was adjourned to June 16, 2017 for the full commencement of the trial.

Aisha has been charged with undertaking small-scale mining operations, contrary to Section 99 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, (Act 703), and providing mine support services without valid registration with the Minerals Commission, contrary to Section 59 and 99 (2) of the Minerals and Mining Act .

She has also been charged with the illegal employment of foreign nationals, contrary to Section 24 of the Immigration Act, 200 (Act 573) and Regulation 18(1) of the Ghana Immigration Regulations, 2001 (L.I.1691).

The four other Chinese - Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Ju, Haibin Gao and Zhang Zhipeng have been charged with disobedience of directive given under the Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573.

In granting bail, the court held that the state failed to prove that Aisha and her compatriots would interfere with investigations.

Also the court was of the view that the state failed to prove that the accused persons were flight risk and would not avail themselves to stand trial when granted bail.