Court grants South Africans bail but BNI defies order
The three retired South African police officers who were granted bail last Thursday after they had been arrested in the Central Region for allegedly engaging in activities with national security implications are still in custody.
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Officials of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) whisked the three away amidst protests by their lawyers who saw the act as an abuse of the rights of the accused persons.
The three were each granted a GH¢20,000 bail, with one surety, when they were arraigned before the Accra Circuit Court last Thursday afternoon.
The three — Major Ahmed Shaik Hazis (retd), 54; Warrant Officer Denver Dwayhe, 33, and Captain Mlungiseli Jokani, 45 — were arrested at the EL-Capitano Hotel where they had been based since arriving in Ghana.
They were said to be training 15 young men in various security drills, including unarmed combat, weapon handling, VIP protection techniques and rapid response exercises.
Custody
Lawyers for the accused persons have raised legal issues with the continuous incarceration of the three and indicated their intent to file the necessary legal papers in court to secure their release.
Officials of the BNI are tight-lipped on why the three are being held in custody, despite their having been granted bail.
Appearance
A team of seven lawyers, led by Mr Ellis Owusu Fordjour and Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, represented the three South Africans.
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They were each charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit crime, unlawful training and making false declaration.
They pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The prosecution prayed the court to remand the accused persons, since investigations were ongoing, but lawyers for the accused persons raised legal arguments to justify why the three should be granted bail.
The prosecution, led by Superintendent Francis Baah, had wanted the accused persons to be remanded but the defence lawyers raised objections and said the offences for which the three were being held were bailable.
The court, presided over by Mrs Patricia Quansah, granted the accused persons bail. The case was then adjourned to April 12, 2016.
The court ordered that the passports of the accused persons should be deposited with the registrar of the court and that the sureties were to provide photo identity cards to satisfy the bail conditions.
Confusion
There was confusion, however, after the court proceedings, as officers of the BNI took the accused persons away.
Their lawyers protested and argued that the rights of their clients were being curtailed and that it was an abuse of the court process.
Mr Akyea, for instance, insisted that the court had ordered that the accused persons be released to the registrar while the BNI went to inspect the houses of the sureties, but instead the BNI opted to take the accused persons away.
That, he said, was in "bad taste", since it was disrespectful to the laws and a defiance of the orders of the court.
Facts
Brief facts presented in court stated that the accused persons were retired South African police officers and that between January and March 2016, they applied for visas at the Ghana High Commission in South Africa on the pretext of doing business in Ghana.
It said based on the information given to the High Commission, the accused persons were granted visas and they arrived in Ghana in March 2016.
According to the facts, a few days ago, information reached the security agencies that some people were training 15 people in military tactics at Agona Duakwa.
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They were arrested and during investigations, the accused persons stated that they had been brought into the country from South Africa by Captain Edmund Kojo Koda (retd) and Captain Kwesi Acquah (retd) to train New Patriotic Party (NPP) security personnel towards the 2016 general election.
Further investigation at the Ghana Immigration Service revealed that the accused persons filled disembarkation forms indicating that they were in Ghana to do business.