[ 2015-07-29 ]

Lawyers condemn ruling in Mahama assassination plot as despicable
A Circuit judge, Justice Francis Obiri has come
under severe criticism for sentencing Charles
Antwi to 10 years imprisonment after the suspect
confessed to intending to assassinate the
president.

Justifying his maximum sentence, Justice Obiri
Yeboah said the attempt was pre-meditated after
the man confessed to visiting Ringway branch of
the Assemblies of God church in Accra where the
first family worships. The 36-year old man was in
church for three Sunday services and carried a
locally made firearm.

The first family was not in church last Sunday
when Charles Antwi was arrested after National
Security operatives found his movements
suspicious.

According to Charles Antwi, Ghana is suffering
from economic hardship under Mahama hence his
plot. He told the court he has been dreaming of
becoming President since the tenure of the late
President Mills.

The mother of Charles Antwi says that her son is
mentally unstable. Even before the mother made
these statements, the had questioned the sanity of
the convict but nonetheless proceeded to sentence
him.

Charles Antwi at the Accra Circuit court
Within an hour of the Tuesday morning trial, the
man's fate was decided. But the ruling has
triggered criticism from lawyers who have been
lining up to provide versions of their
condemnation.

Constitutional expert, Professor Stephen Kwaku
Asare has described the ruling as "despicable" and
"unheard of."

Without a lawyer, the trial lasted for an hour
Tuesday morning although the Prosecution had come
to court seeking for more time to complete its
investigations.

He compared the speed of the trial to Jamaican
100-meter record holder, Usain Bolt.

Professor Kwaku Asare says Article 19 of the
Constitution requires that both sides be given
adequate time to prepare.

Although Charles Antwi confessed to an attempt to
assassinate the President, Professor Asare says
his confession is “completely irrelevant” to
the official charge of unlawful possession of
firearms.

A legal practitioner, Mathias Yakah has also
questioned the ruling.

“It is totally wrong in law to sentence someone
who has pleaded not guilty…he must be made to go
through full trial…,” he said on Adom FM hours
after the ruling.

Another lawyer Yaw Oppong has also described the
ruling as severe because with a charge of illegal
possession of a firearm, the Arms and Ammunitions
Act 1972 (NRCD 9) does not prescribe a 10-year
sentence.

Quoting the law, Yaw Oppong said "any person who
has in his possession without lawful authority [a
firearm]....shall be guilty of an offence and
liable on summary conviction to a fine not
exceeding c5 million or to imprisonment not
exceeding five years or to both"

He described the ruling as a "travesty of
justice".

Source - MyjoyOnline

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