Four suspects pray High Court for their freedom

Prampram(GAR) Dec. 9, GNA - Four suspects who have been admitted to bail by the Prampran District Court but still in police custody, have prayed a Tema High Court for their freedom.

They are also praying the Court to hold ACP Dordzie Hlordzi, Superintendent Cecilia Arko and Sargeant Abraham Tettey, all police officers, who have defied the court orders, in contempt of the court, and suffer the consequences thereof.

In the application for committal for contempt of Court, sighted by the Ghana News Agency, the suspects said they were arrested on or about 20th October, 2019 by personnel of the Devtraco Police station and were charged with stealing and conspiracy to steal.

According to the suspects, the Police denied him their right to consult with the counsel of their choice since the arrest and all contacts with counsel had been through and by family members.

On October 23, 2019, the accused persons were first arraigned before the Prampram District Court but were remanded on application by the prosecution that investigations were ongoing.

“That the honourable court remanded the accused persons to the custody of the Devtraco Police station to appear again on November 7, 2019.

On November 7, the pleas of the accused persons were again not taken as prosecution still claimed not to have concluded with its investigation on the matter and also could not stipulate when the said investigations would be concluded, "they said.

They said the District Court on application by counsels procured for the accused persons admitted each of the accused persons to bail per specific conditions. However, the respondents herein with full knowledge of the valid orders of the District Court willfully refused to comply with the bail order claiming to disagree with the conditions of bail.

"The respondents herein have continued to unlawfully detain the accused persons in their custody since Thursday, November 7, 2017 when the accused persons were admitted to bail by the District Court.

That the willing sureties of the accused person who availed themselves for the purpose in accordance with the orders of the Court have been continuously denied and frustrated by the respondents who are employing all manner of tricks and tactics to detain the accused persons, "they said.

Even when the attention of the respondents was drawn to their contemptuous conduct, they still refused to comply with the court’s order and continue to keep the four accused persons in their custody as the date of this application, according to them.

They argued that the conduct of the Police was a willful, blatant display of impunity and an absolute disrespect of the court and its authority; which conduct unquestionably has brought the dignity of the court into disrepute and ridicule.

“All efforts to get the respondents to comply with the bail order of the District have proven futile who by their disrespectful conduct imply that they are a law unto themselves – even above the court.

Unless so curtailed the respondents shall persist in their wanton disdain and defiance of the orders of court as they also trample the fundamental liberties of the accused persons.

"That the respondents as law enforcement officers should be held to a higher standard of accountability in upholding the law and also dignity of the competence courts of jurisdiction of the Republic," they argued.

According to them, the "Police officers must be held in contempt and committed to prison and or fined as the case maybe for their disdainful and contemptuous behaviour, which transgresses the laws of the Republic of Ghana and drags the dignity and integrity of the honourable court into ridicule and disrepute; unless they otherwise purge themselves of the contempt and fully comply with the orders of the honourable court."

GNA