[ 2011-04-19 ]

Ibrahim Sima is looking forward to appeal his conviction

Sima advises youth from prison: Avoid trouble
Convicted fashion icon, Ibrahim Sima, the former
CEO of Exopa Modeling Agency has advised the youth
to avoid getting into trouble with the law whose
tentacles he described as "far-reaching and
unpredictable".

Sima, jailed last month for 15 years for a
narcotic offence, told the Times at the Nsawam
Medium Security Prison: “I feel empty and cannot
think properly since I was brought here to start a
new life as a convict."

The 39-year-old looked despondent as he sat all
alone in the parking space of the Prison's
administrative block.

Speaking exclusively with Times correspondent,
Lawrence Markwei, the former CEO of Exopa Modeling
Agency, maintains that he has not been given
justice, saying everything from the arrest to his
conviction was not handled well by the Narcotic
Control Board (NACOB) operatives.

Sima is currently undergoing psycho-counselling at
the prison's diagnostic centre to help him settle
in his new environment.

The diagnostic centre serves as a first point of
call for first time convicts who are challenged
psychologically in accepting their predicament.
They are taken through the rudiments of prison
life before their integration with the mainstream
inmates.

Sima's trial was one of the high profile cases
involving a celebrity whose fans trooped to the
court at every hearing until his conviction.

He was convicted by the Fast Track High Court
March 3, on two counts of attempting to export
narcotic drugs and unlawful possession of narcotic
drugs.

Giving reasons why he thought he was given a
wrongful treatment, he said his luggage was
checked in six hours before his arrest, during
which time anything could have happened to it.

Sima, who was arrested at the Kotoka International
Airport for attempting to smuggle to Germany
cocaine concealed in four tubers of yam which were
part of his luggage, said nobody was ready to
listen to that probability, citing other
celebrities who he, said had been framed up in the
same way.

"To avoid the wrath of the Narcotic Control
officials, I admitted ownership of the luggage and
its contents under duress," he said.

Sima admitted that life as a prisoner was very
challenging, given his glamorous lifestyle as a
celebrity, but added "as a Muslim, I have big
faith in Allah and will pray for the day I will be
released from this place".

He said together with his lawyers, he is looking
at many legal options to appeal against the
sentence.

Before his arrest on September 7, 2009, Sima had
in the previous month organised and dazzled
fashion lovers with his 'Ghana Fashion Week' which
had featured Boris Kodjoe, the Hollywood super
star of a Ghanaian lineage.

Source - Ghanaian Times

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