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It is always the courts that will ultimately decide the fate of Afoko.
The decision made last Monday by the High Court of Accra to revoke a bond given to Afoko by another High Court has been widely condemned by the public, civil society groups and human rights defenders. man.
The hashtag #JusticeForAfoko was one of the main trends on Twitter.
Afoko and Asabke Alangdi are currently on trial for murder and murder for the alleged murder of the New East Patriotic Party (NPP) regional president in 2015.
They pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
I have the chance to follow the Afoko case since 2015. I have sat in hearing rooms and reported on his case many times. As a result, I will present the facts that I have gathered throughout the trial.
Why is Afoko on trial?
Alhaji Mahama was seriously injured after an allegedly acidic substance was allegedly dumped in front of his home in Bolgatanga on May 20, 2015.
He died later from his injuries at the Bolgatanga General Hospital.
Afoko was arrested and charged. Alangdi, however, has gone on the run.
After about a year of arguments between prosecutors and defense lawyers, on February 23, 2016, Accra Central District Court sentenced Afoko to stand trial in the High Court of Accra.
Afoko has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and murder.
Trial
Even before the first prosecution witness was called to testify, members of Alhaji Mahama's family, on April 19, 2016, asked the Chief Justice of the time, Judge Georgina Theodora Wood, to ask the presiding judge, Judge Lawrence L. Mensah, to recuse himself.
Among other things, the family had problems with the court's decision to place Afoko in custody instead of being held in custody.
The Chief Justice dismissed the motion on the basis that it could not justify the trial judge's recuse.
The prosecution, headed by Mr Matthew Amponsah, a prosecutor general, claimed that before Alhaji Mahama gave up his ghost, he had claimed that it was Afoko and Alangdi who told him had poured the alleged acid.
The prosecution summoned 14 witnesses, including Alhaji Adams Mahama's wife, Hajia Zainabu Adams, to prove his case.
Afoko denied any involvement in the murder and pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and conspiracy to commit it.
On January 26, 2019, Afoko filed his case after the testimony of his brother, John Ishmael Afoko.
Subsequently, the presiding judge, Judge Mensah, ordered both parties to file their written addresses.
Nose prosequi
On January 28, 2019, however, the Attorney General (AG) filed a complaint to end the trial following the arrest of the other suspect, Alangdi, who has been fleeing since the incident. 2015.
Afoko challenged the prosequi nose by seizing the Supreme Court, but on June 19, 1919, the Supreme Court dismissed the case, alleging that Afoko had failed to prove that the nolle prosequi was capricious unfair and arbitrary.
Bail
Afoko's lawyers have asked to be released on bail in the High Court of Accra, presided over by Judge George Buadi, saying their client deserves bail, as the state is not ready for bail. continue.
Mr. Osafo Buabeng, the accused's lead counsel, argued that the AG's hearing minutes, after more than three years of trial, showed that the The state wanted to keep only its client in detention and did not really want to prosecute.
On 14 March 2019, Judge Buadi rejected the AG's argument that Afoko was at risk of flight and admitted Afoko to pay a security of 500,000 GH ¢ with two sureties, one of which was to be paid for. one had to be justified.
As part of bail conditions, the court also ordered Afoko to report every two weeks to the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
Legal challenges
Unsatisfied, the A-G appealed to the Court of Appeal and also sought a stay of execution in the High Court pending the final decision of the appeal.
On March 22, 2019, Judge Buadi dismissed the stay application on the grounds that the A-G could not prove any exceptional circumstances to convince the court to stop the release on bail.
The Court of Appeal also dismissed an application for a stay of execution pending the appeal of the A-G.
The appeal must still be decided by the Court of Appeal.
As a result of the dismissal of the measures taken by the AG to end the execution of the bond, the Afoko family tried to execute it but accused the police of not having released Afoko while he had presented competent sureties and met all the conditions of the surety.
Afoko's lawyers have therefore filed a complaint for contempt to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. David Asante Apeatu, to the Director General of the CID, COP Maame Tiwa Addo Danquah, and to the Investigator of the case for not having released their client despite the meeting. all the conditions of the deposit.
The lawyers also filed an application for habeas corpus for the IGP to produce their client.
Judge Jennifer Dodoo, the Judge seized of the case for contempt, on June 19, 2019, ordered the PGI and other alleged accusers to be present in the courtroom on July 3 so that she can make her decision on the claim of contempt.
On July 3, 2019, the IGP and the head of the CID did not show up in the courtroom. Prosecutors told the court that both men were out of court and that they would return on July 6. The court postponed the decision to July 22.
Deposit canceled
Meanwhile, while the numerous court challenges were ongoing, an incarceration procedure guaranteeing a new trial for Afoko and Alangdi was also under way in the Central Accra District Court.
The court sentenced both defendants to trial in the High Court. On July 15, 2019, Afoko and Alangdi appeared before the High Court, presided over by Judge Merley Afua Wood, for a new trial to take place.
The High Court was about to remit the case to 22 July to allow a jury to meet when the Prosecutor, Ms. Marina Appiah Opare, Attorney General, informed the Court that she had filed an oral application quashing the release on bail of Afoko.
Basically, the prosecutor argued that bail was to be overturned because Afoko was at risk of flight and that the reason the other High Court had granted his bail was that State was not ready to pursue it, had changed.
She claimed that the Attorney General had put an end to the accused's previous trial following the arrest of Alangdi, who had been fleeing for more than four years, and that since then, the prosecutor promptly completed the referral process leading to the opening of a new trial.
Mr Stephen Sorwah Charway, Afoko's attorney, objected to the claim and baderted that on March 14, 2019, his client had been released on bail, the state had used all means possible to keep him in detention.
On the issue of Afoko's escape, he argued that the court had imposed strict measures to ensure that his client would not flee the law.
Judge Afua Wood, who is a judge at the Court of Appeal, sitting as Deputy Judge at the High Court, upheld the prosecution's argument and set aside the bail.
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