Seven-member jury sworn in for Afoko trial

Thursday, July 18, 2019 Policy

Source: ghananewsagency.org

2019-07-18

A seven-member jury was sworn in as part of the proceedings leading up to the trial of Gregory Afoko and Asabke Alangde for the murder of Mr. Adams Mahama, former president of the High Patriotic Region of East High Court of Accra.

Afoko and Asabke appear in court for conspiracy to commit a crime of murder and murder, for which they both pleaded not guilty.

The jury is composed of three men and four women.

Earlier, Afoko Council, Mr. Stephen Sowah Charwey, who is in charge of the case for Safo Boabeng, asked the court to allow his client to do at least some background checks of the members of the jury.

He stated that his client did not know the background of these people and would be happy if he gave him some time to carry out his verifications so that he could exercise his statutory rights to challenge any candidacy.

"It is right that the accused be given this respect so that the boards look at the context so that they can argue a case for their benefit.

Asabke's lawyers, Mr. Andrew Kudzo Vortia, also argued that it was their right, as part of the challenge to the case, to perform the background check.

The prosecution, Ms. Marina Appiah Oppong, a Attorney General, said she did not agree with the lawyers, saying that what the advice suggested was not and has never been the procedure.

She stated that their suggestions were not feasible and that the court should stick to the procedure provided for by law. 30 The law does not provide for background checks of seven-member jurors prior to their appointment. .

"The accused had the privilege of dismissing three jurors and the rest was not challenged.The seven members were appointed in accordance with the law." Afoko's attorney no time raised the challenge for just cause.We have gone through this step and his claim has no legal basis. "

She added that there was no provision for background checks, and as they said the law says, the advice requested from the accused was not provided for. in law 30.

The court quashed the prayers of the defense attorney, claiming that Article 250 of Law 30 stipulated that defendants would be allowed to challenge three jurors without cause. If one of the defendants had raised an objection against a fourth person, he would have had the opportunity to motivate his decision, but in this case, in the absence of such a challenge, the l? objection is not defensible.

The court also ordered the National Investigation Bureau to grant Asabke 's lawyer sufficient time with his clients. Five hours in total at one hour per session.

It was after Mr. Vortia informed the court that the 15 minutes provided by the BNI were totally inadequate and that he would need an hour of interaction per session with his client.

The case has since been postponed to July 26th.

The facts of the case as they were read by the prosecution, Ms. Appiah Oppong, indicated that Afoko was a farmer, while Asabke was a butcher, both residents of Bolgatanga, in the Far East region.

He explained that Afoko is the younger brother of Mr. Paul Afoko, former president of the NPP, while Alangdi was a member of the party's youth wing.

He stated that both defendants were known to Adams, the deceased. Thus, on May 20, 2015, around 11 pm, the deceased in his car had arrived from his construction site and two men had asked him to stop in front of his house.

She added that the two men signaled her to roll on the side window of the vehicle and that he was forced to pour acid on her, which made her scream with a burning sensation to attract his wife's attention. after which they began to spin.

She added that Adams had been burned to the head, face and body, while the wife who had helped him out of the car also had burns to the bads and chest.

The prosecution said it asked who did it and mentioned Afoko and Alangdi.

She added that Adams had then called for help, which had attracted sympathizers, who then drove him to the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital, where he died the next day at the 39th. intensive care unit.

Ms. Appiah Oppong stated that the case had been referred to the police and that a plastic cup, a gallon of acid acid as well as clothes belonging to the deceased person had been collected for the purpose of & dquo; Investigation and that the seat of the car was also soaked with some of the liquid.

She added that a tracksuit and other items believed to be intended for the defendants had also been stolen from the scene by police.

She said that they were then sent to the Ghana Standards Authority for review and that it had been confirmed that the liquid was acidic.

The Prosecution stated on the basis of this information that Afoko had been arrested and that he had taken the police to Alangdi's home, but he had escaped.

She said on May 15, 2015 that a pathologist, the autopsy report of Dr. Lawrence Adusei, had said that Adams had suffered an electric shock and many burns caused by acid.

Afoko was on trial until Alangdi was arrested on January 25 in Côte D'Ivoire with the help of Interpol and handed over to Ghana.

Ms. Appiah Oppong said that the trial of Attorney General Afoko had been suspended, with the Attorney General recording the minutes so that the two accused could be tried together.