Court grants bail to five remand prisoners in Wa

Wa, June 16, GNA - The Wa High Court presided over by Mr Justice Edward K. B. Apenkwah has granted bail to five people who have been on remand for between four and six years.

The five, who were on remand at the Wa Central Prisons, were granted the bail by the High Court upon an application filed by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in Wa.

The five prisoners were each granted the bail in the sum of GH¢4,000.00 with two sureties. They were also required by the court to submit two recent passport pictures each to the registrar of the court, Mr. Siddique Ubeidu, the Acting Upper West Regional Director of CHRAJ, told the GNA in an interview.

He the action of the Commission was in accordance with Article 218 (D) (III) and 229 of the 1992 constitution which mandated the Commissioner to bring an application before any court for a remedy to secure the termination of any offending action or conduct that violated the fundamental human rights of any person.

Mr Ubeidu said the Commission got the information when he led a team of investigators to the Wa Central Prisons as part of the Commission's annual routine exercise of inspecting detention centres and the situation of remand prisoners in the country.

He said the accused persons were among a number of remand prisoners who were unduly detained without being tried for a very long time.

Mr. Ubeidu said the prisoners made verbal complaints to the Commission.