Lawyer calls for negotiation with freed remand prisoners
A Human rights lawyer, Mr Francis-Xavier Sosu, has urged the state to enter into negotiations with the remand prisoners recently freed by the Judiciary in order to stem any occurrence of multiple litigations against the state.
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According to him, the court, in discharging 25 of them unconditionally, said their continued incarceration was a breach of their fundamental human rights under Article Three of the 1992 Constitution.
That, he said, provided ample grounds for litigation for compensation, adding that it would be prudent for the state to be more proactive in entering into a negotiated compensation regime with them rather than waiting for them to initiate actions.
A remand case
Mr Sosu, who represented Mr Francis Agyare in the case in which Mr Agyare had sued the state for breaching his fundamental rights in keeping him in remand for 14 years, said this in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday.
Mr Agyare won the case and the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court ordered the state to pay him a compensation of GH¢200,000.
Enforcement of rights
Mr Sosu said under an order of the High Court Civil Procedure rules, all the 25 persons would be demanding the enforcement of their rights for unlawful detention.
The fear, he said, was that an action in court could open the floodgates for other suits, which might culminate in multiple suits against the state.
He said a negotiated compensation package, apart from closing the door to numerous actions against the state, would also prevent the persons from relapsing or practising vices they might have learnt while in jail.
“They would now be able to pursue decent livelihoods and continue with their lives,” Mr Sosu said.
A total of 65 remand prisoners were released recently under the Justice for All Programme.
Twenty-five of them were released unconditionally while 40 of them were released on various terms.
Needless remand
Some of them were remanded for seven to 14 years without trial and with expired remand warrants while others were remanded by Regional Tribunals which are no longer in existence.
Others too were on remand because even though the offences they committed were bailable ones, they could not fulfil their bail conditions.
The Justice for All Programme is championed by the Centre for Human Rights and Civil Liberties with support from the Chief Justice and the Attorney-General.
Mr Sosu was one of the pro bono lawyers who stood in for the remand prisoners.
Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh