Court discharges 32 alleged separatists

An Accra Circuit Court has discharged 32 people alleged to have participated in secessionist activities intended to break away parts of the Volta Region from Ghana.

This was after the prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sylvester Asare, had withdrawn the charges against them and asked the court to discharge them.

They were, however, not allowed to leave the court and were subsequently whisked away by security officials.

It was not immediately clear why they were whisked away.

They had originally been provisionally charged with conspiracy, treason felony, participating in the campaign of a prohibited organisation, causing unlawful damage and rioting with weapons.

The prosecutor’s application had been met with fierce opposition by lawyers of the accused persons who argued that ASP Asare’s request was a deliberate attempt to re-arrest the accused persons in order to arraign them before a different court.

Counsel

The court, presided over by Mr Emmanuel Essandoh, had earlier granted bail to another set of 25 suspects who were facing similar charges.

Defence counsel, Mr Theophilus Donkor, argued that the prayer by the prosecution to withdraw the charges was a deliberate attempt to prevent the court from granting his clients bail.

Mr Donkor insisted that the prosecution had no right to re-arrest the accused persons, adding that his clients, some of whom were bread winners, would not be able to spend time with their families during the festive season.

“My clients have been in custody since September 25, and prosecution keeps amending the charge sheet and it appears prosecution is not ready to commence trial soon,” he added.

Facts

The facts as presented by ASP Asare were that the accused persons were members of a prohibited orientisation, namely Western Togoland Foundation and a related organisation.

He said on September 25, 2020, the accused persons agreed together with a common purpose to secede from the Republic of Ghana.

He said pursuant to the agreement and together with others at large, they attacked the Aveyime and Mepe police stations in the Volta Region.

ASP Asare said they overpowered the officers at the stations, broke into the armouries and made away with various sets of ammunition, a patrol vehicle, cash, among others.

He added that on October 19, 2020, police investigations led to the retrieval of some the properties stolen from Mepe and Aveyime Police Station, including 30 rounds of AK 47 ammunition, six AK 47 rifles, one bayonet and tear-gas.