Jihad Chaaban
Lawyers of Jihad Chaaban, the embattled Ablemkpe branch manager of Marwako Restaurant, have served notice to file a submission of ‘no case’ in the assault case brought against him (Jihad).
Julio Demedeiros, lawyer for Jihad who dropped the hint yesterday, believes his client has no case to answer in respect of the charges preferred against him, although the court had asked him to open his defence.
According to the Abeka District Court judge, Ms Victoria Ghansah, a prima facie case has been made against the accused.
Furthermore, the defence had completed their cross-examination of the case investigator, Detective Inspector Eunice Ashiagbor.
During the cross-examination, D/Insp. Ashiagbor said although she could not speak the Lebanese language, she got the meaning of the word “Sharamunnta” from people she spoke to during the investigation of the case.
Julio disagreed, indicating that there was no such word in the Lebanese language, but the investigator stated that even if that was not the meaning, Sharamunnta” was the word used for Evelyn Boakye, the complainant.
Turning Point
According to her, the content in the blender was blended pepper, adding that in her investigation she spoke to one Ali who told the complainant that the incident was an opportunity to make money.
D/Insp. Ashiagbor argued that she did not investigate the said aspect of making money from the case because Evelyn did not consent to that.
Julio again asked whether during her investigation the investigator came across one Abigail Adu Amoah believed to have been told by Evelyn that they would teach this Lebanese (referring to Jihad) a lesson.
On that, D/Insp. Ashiagbor answered in the negative, compelling the defence lawyer to doubt if the investigator did a thorough investigation.
The investigator however, said the content in the blender did not accidently splash on the face of Evelyn but ruled out any intention of Jihad to put pepper in the eyes of the complainant.
Meanwhile, the court had on Monday dismissed an application by the defence lawyers for an out-of-court settlement of the matter.
Hearing continues on April 19.
Charges
Jihad, 26, is reported to have dipped the head of Evelyn, an employee of Marwako, into blended pepper on February 26, 2017.
According to the prosecution, the accused offensively conducted himself when he angrily called the complainant a ‘prostitute.’
Jihad is facing an additional charge of intentionally and unlawfully causing harm to Evelyn.
The accused, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, is a brother–in-law of the owner of Marwako Restaurant.
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
