By
Samuel Osei Frempong
Prampram(GAR) Dec.
9, GNA – Four suspects who have been admitted to bail by the Prampran District
Court but still in police custody, have prayed a Tema High Court for their
freedom.
They are also
praying the Court to hold ACP Dordzie Hlordzi, Superintendent Cecilia Arko and
Sargeant Abraham Tettey, all police officers, who have defied the court orders,
in contempt of the court, and suffer the consequences thereof.
In the application
for committal for contempt of Court, sighted by the Ghana News Agency, the suspects
said they were arrested on or about 20th October, 2019 by personnel
of the Devtraco Police station and were charged with stealing and conspiracy to
steal.
According to the
suspects, the Police denied him their right to consult with the counsel of their
choice since the arrest and all contacts with counsel had been through and by
family members.
On October 23, 2019,
the accused persons were first arraigned before the Prampram District Court but
were remanded on application by the prosecution that investigations were
ongoing.
“That the honourable
court remanded the accused persons to the custody of the Devtraco Police
station to appear again on November 7, 2019.
On November 7, the
pleas of the accused persons were again not taken as prosecution still claimed
not to have concluded with its investigation on the matter and also could not
stipulate when the said investigations would be concluded, “they said.
They said the
District Court on application by counsels procured for the accused persons
admitted each of the accused persons to bail per specific conditions. However,
the respondents herein with full knowledge of the valid orders of the District
Court willfully refused to comply with the bail order claiming to disagree with
the conditions of bail.
“The
respondents herein have continued to unlawfully detain the accused persons in
their custody since Thursday, November 7, 2017 when the accused persons were
admitted to bail by the District Court.
That the willing
sureties of the accused person who availed themselves for the purpose in
accordance with the orders of the Court have been continuously denied and
frustrated by the respondents who are employing all manner of tricks and
tactics to detain the accused persons, “they said.
Even when the
attention of the respondents was drawn to their contemptuous conduct, they
still refused to comply with the court’s order and continue to keep the four
accused persons in their custody as the date of this application, according to
them.
They argued that the
conduct of the Police was a willful, blatant display of impunity and an
absolute disrespect of the court and its authority; which conduct
unquestionably has brought the dignity of the court into disrepute and
ridicule.
“All efforts to get
the respondents to comply with the bail order of the District have proven
futile who by their disrespectful conduct imply that they are a law unto
themselves – even above the court.
Unless so curtailed
the respondents shall persist in their wanton disdain and defiance of the orders
of court as they also trample the fundamental liberties of the accused persons.
“That the
respondents as law enforcement officers should be held to a higher standard of
accountability in upholding the law and also dignity of the competence courts
of jurisdiction of the Republic,” they argued.
According to them,
the “Police officers must be held in contempt and committed to prison and
or fined as the case maybe for their disdainful and contemptuous behaviour,
which transgresses the laws of the Republic of Ghana and drags the dignity and
integrity of the honourable court into ridicule and disrepute; unless they
otherwise purge themselves of the contempt and fully comply with the orders of
the honourable court.”
GNA
