Prosecution has failed to prove its case - Counsel

Accra July 2, GNA - A defence counsel in the May Nine Stadium Disaster case on Wednesday prayed an Accra High Court to acquit and discharge his clients because prosecution had woefully failed to prove its case.

Mr Owusu Fordjuor, counsel for Faakyi Kumi, Frank Awuah, Benjamin B. Bakomora, all Assistant Superintendents of Police noted that prosecution had not been able to establish the guilt of accused persons and urged the court to rule out the case.

The other officers on trial are John Asare Naami and Francis Aryee, both Assistant Superintendents of Police and Koranteng Mintah Chief Superintendent of Police.

The accused persons had earlier denied the charges and are on a 20 million-cedi bail each with two sureties.

In his submission of no case for his clients, Mr Owusu Fordjour stated that prosecution was alleging that all the accused persons on May Nine 2001 caused the deaths of 126 fans through unlawful harm.

In this regard, prosecution was expected to prove that accused were responsible for the deaths, that indeed the victims died on the said date, that accused caused the deaths through unlawful harm and whether there were elements of negligence on the part of the accused.

These, he said, the prosecution had failed to bring out.

He recalled that the prosecution witnesses in their evidence stated that the accused fired stoppers and tear gas but there was no evidence of act or harm caused by them.

He noted that accused persons were not charged with conspiracy but were co-accused persons, adding that the prosecution failed to show the court that the deaths of the fans were caused by accused persons and that it was a collective act.

He stated that the accused went to the stadium as spectators.

Counsel said victims who were mentioned were not properly identified in the evidence and that " they just provided the list, pictures and films on the event, adding that all these evidences were dumped with no explanation whatsoever."

He stated that no evidence had also showed that the tear-gas killed the fans, adding that the doctors produced by prosecution attributed the cause of deaths to traumatic anaestasia, which occurred as a result of stampede.

He told the court that there might be other contributing factors that might have caused deaths among the 126 fans.

This, he said, included the closure of the gates and putting lights off at the stadium.

Counsel recalled that earlier, the investigator in the case had told the court that he did not conduct any investigations into the matter since he was only instructed by his superiors to charge the accused persons based on the report of the commission and government's paper.

This, he told the court, should not be considered as part of the legal process and deal with the evidence made available to it.

Hearing continues on July 10.