How an embassy official shocked a Russian judge

A Ghanaian couple that faced trial in Russia has accused their Ghanaian consular officer in Russia for orchestrating a case and tricking them to sign a self incriminating confession in Russian language to a crime they pleaded not guilty. Their hopes of having the case dismissed as threatened by an angry Russian judge for lack of evidence and absence of complainant/witnesses were dashed when same consular officer Mr. Inusah Abdul Bassit appeared in court as an additional witness to testify misleadingly against them in a "secretive" trial at the Perovo Federal court in Moscow during which the only physical "evidence" presented in court against them was the self incriminating confession in Russian language said to have been made by the couple through an interpreter. The couple, Peter and fiancée Gifty before being sentenced on their 'confessions', strongly protested that the confessions were fabrications when read to them in English by a different interpreter. The complainant and named witnesses were never in court for cross examinations.



The unreported late Nov/Dec 2009 case came to light recently when a student did a project on "Procedural law and the Impact of language barrier on justice delivery". Court transcripts were obtained from the court's registry for an academic study of the dynamics of the trial i.e.; evidence/procedures used in establishing the guilt of the couple. Testifying before the court on 30th November, 2009 the consular Officer Mr. Abdul Bassit Inusah, himself a lawyer told the judge that though he had a responsibility to protect Ghanaians, the government of Ghana did not want to encourage Ghanaians to break Russian laws but the couple says there was an ulterior motive behind his "holier than thou" show in court. When the judge, according to the couple asked repeatedly whether Inusah Bassit was acting with the awareness of Ghana government, he said he was acting on the decisive instructions of the President of Ghana and the Ambassador in seeking the jail term for the Ghanaian couple when further asked by the surprised judge whether on the facts of the case Ghanaian authorities surely wanted the couple jailed, and in Russia. The Ambassador who was by then about a month at post has however denied any knowledge of the trial and their subsequent imprisonment for a year and half.



Mr. Inusah Bassit told the court on page 2 of the Zasedania that he was in his office when a lady "previously unknown" to him phoned alleging that she was being assaulted by the couple who wants her to do prostitution so they should come to her aid. He said he informed the Russian security authorities who arrested the Ghanaian couple after discussing the matter with embassy officials. The Russian police presented a statement (in Russian) to the court on behalf of the complainant and the named witnesses on the last day of hearings since they were never in court. A section of the statement read; “when she told the couple she won't do prostitution Peter held and pressed her neck so hard while Gifty began beating her till she agreed to do prostitution to save her own life”. Peter and Gifty denied and questioned the credibility of the statement telling the judge through the court interpreter that the complainant herself could never say those ‘lies’ and will prefer to hear directly from her in English during cross examinations in court ..which never happened.



The Ambassador His Excellency Dr. Seth Koranteng who was then in charge of the Mission (having arrived on 3rd November in Russia) denied any knowledge of the case expressing his shock that a staff actually testified against the Ghanaian couple without his knowledge when told by our correspondent. Though he said he was not aware of the story, he wondered what could have made Inusah do that if it truly happened.



According to the student whose name was given as Addo Nana Akyeampon, he got curious when he realized from the court transcripts that the self-implicating confession as translated into Russian language by the translator and certified by a named lawyer to have been made in his presence by each of the couple in English during separate police interrogations were direct "cut and paste" versions of each other tailored to conform to the statement submitted on behalf of the lady complainant (confession documents here 1,2,3,4). When asked why they thought their embassy official will manipulate the system to get them imprisoned Gifty explained that she once went to Inusah's office at the Ghana embassy in Moscow to get a SPRAVKA (a renewable document that guarantees legal status of the holder by the issuing embassy in the physical absence of a passport), Mr. Inusah Bassit tried to have sex with her at the embassy office which she refused. On leaving the office she alleges Inusah told her to "wait and see" after refusing her the document she had paid for (AUDIO HERE). Gifty said in Twi that “even if he thought of me as needy, it did not mean I was ready to sleep with any man, anytime, anywhere”. Other Ghanaian women in Moscow that spoke to our correspondent shared similar experiences with one saying “he tried to take advantage of me; Bassit was touching me and wanted to sleep with me there…apart from church service, I no longer go to the embassy” while another lady confessed to giving in to such sexual demands from Inusah Bassit at the embassy office. Other Ghanaians have also shared similar victimising experiences here (AUDIO HERE).



Recounting events at the time of the arrest, Gifty said she was in her menses and had started bleeding due to the situation, that while the police excused her to change her menstrual pads, Alhaji Inusah Bassit decided to stay in the room saying she might hide something/run away through the window (on their 9th floor apartment). She said "he finally saw all that he wanted to see, I was naked, I changed the bloody pads in his presence, and he was looking at everything with the blood". She continued as confirmed by her fiancé Peter that "even when I visited the toilet, he used one of his legs to block the toilet door, saying I might hide something. He stood there watching me throughout till I finished attending to nature's call" (AUDIO HERE).



Peter who believes Inusah may have paid the Police said he was told initially by the police interpreter that due to the fact that they were not arrested in the course of the alleged crime and lack of medical evidence to support the assault claims, they would have to pay a penalty for their expired documents and the fact that Gifty initially had his passport and that of the complainant in her possession. He said a policeman quickly added that it all depended on consular Inusah Bassit so he should speak with him first before any penalty payments. Peter said he became suspicious of Inusah's intentions when he frowned and went upstairs to meet the police authorities on telling him of his readiness to pay the suggested penalty fee. He said they were invited to sign a document which was in Russian. On asking for a translated version before signing, Peter recalls Inusah explaining that there’s no need for the penalty fee, they were going to be set free so they should just sign and be free. Gifty who says she had resisted signing the document in demand for a translated version said Inusah told her to sign because the case is ended, that he Inusah himself is also going to sign. He said after signing they saw the police clapping for Inusah, congratulating him (saying maladiet, in Russian) amidst laughter while Inusah took the lady complainant away leaving them behind. Peter said "we were tricked; I did not know we were signing a confession that became our ticket to jail" (AUDIO HERE). The couple admitted to staying with a lady they had assisted earlier through his brother who was known to Gifty but they deny forcing her into anything she did not want to do.



When traced by the student researcher regarding the accuracy and credibility of his translations, the police interpreter, Haitov (not fluent in English), who identified himself as a Chinese/Tibetan/English-Russian interpreter admitted that he has difficulty understanding the African assent of English so consular officer Alhaji Inusah aka Inus, helped him with parts of the translation though Inusah himself is an African, not fluent in Russian either. This fed into the suspicions of the couple that Inusah may have written the statements and their 'confessions' in English, got a professional interpreter to translate into Russian and handed it over to the translator to collect the necessary legal signatures to legitimize. Haitov also confirmed the police penalty request but said the couple did not have money to pay. When told that the wording of the 'confessions' could not have come from the couple, Haitov said he could not remember if the couple actually said what he had interpreted as their "confessions" though he insisted on his belief of their guilt ( CLIP HERE).



He also maintained that the named pre-trial lawyer for the couple was present throughout the interrogations during which the couple made their confessions to the crime. Peter however denies this, that at the time of the interrogations there was no lawyer present. He said a lawyer had been introduced to them after the initial arrest but they never spoke. He said he had no access to any legal counsel at that time and realized during the interrogation with the police and the translator that they were not even writing what he was trying to tell them. Speaking to Nana Akyeampon in their Preobrajenskaya Ploshad office in Moscow, the lawyer admitted that he was not there during the supposed self-confessions contrary to the interpreter's account in the court documents. Lawyer Popov said he does not speak English and all the confessions were the translations made available to him by the interpreter for him to sign. When told that though he did not speak English, he could still have been present as demanded by the law, to assist his clients through the same interpreter, the Lawyer said he rather expected the consular officer to help his citizens but he did nothing (CLIP HERE https://www.dropbox.com/s/osh0483i81wn6ua/POPOVtranslate.mov). After postponing a second sitting due to the absence of the named witnesses and the lady complainant (said to have stayed with Inusah), the irritated Russian judge who had threatened to throw away the case for lack of merit wrote a letter to the office of the Ghanaian Ambassador asking him to tell staff member Inusah to appear before the court to testify on 30th November with the 2 witnesses and the lady complainant whom the consular officer had obtained police permission to take away for 'safe keeping' amidst protest from the couple. The ambassador when shown a copy of that letter obtained from the court registry by Addo Akyeampon said the letter never reached him.



Appearing on the said date, still without the lady complainant and the witnesses, consular officer Alhaji Inusah Bassit speaking as an additional witness explained the complainant had been rehabilitated, sent to Ghana and will not be available for questioning. According to the court transcripts he said, misleadingly, that he did not also know the whereabouts of the witnesses but it was likely they had also left for their home countries in Africa. Statements in Russian were submitted on their behalf by the police on this final day of court hearings suggesting they (the witnesses) saw the couple beat and abuse the girl. However speaking to Addo Akyeampon, Agnes Narh one of the witnesses said she never told the police that the couple were beating or forcing the girl into prostitution. Though witnesses usually may not say what they tell police authorities for fear of reprisals, she insisted that "I had lived with them for only one week before the arrest and did not see or say what is attributed to me in the court documents". When told of what Inusah said to the court that she may have travelled to Africa she laughed hysterically saying Mr. Inusah Bassit spoke with her on phone that the couple are implicating her in the case so she should run away or risk being arrested (AUDIO HERE). The Nigerian also still in Moscow is equally said to have categorically denied what is attributed to him in Russian language by the police statements. Mixed feelings have been expressed as to why the court proceeded with a case in which a complainant and her 2 named witnesses had abandoned the trial for Africa without the courts consent or knowledge while others think the court should have checked with immigration officials for confirmation. These ladies also with their expired documents needed to have a SPRAVKA/TC from same Inusah- the consular officer before they could have even travelled if it was true.



Policeman Volodia Abramova of the Russian Centre for Counter Extremism (CID Division) who was one of the men called to arrest the Ghanaian couple in their home and testified in court on the last day in place of the witnesses and complainant confirmed to named student that besides the written statements submitted on behalf of the victim and witnesses as well as the 'confessions' of the couple, no physical evidence was presented to the court. When asked of the possibilities of the court being misled by falsified statements of an absconded plaintiff and her runaway witnesses who did not appear in court to confirm or deny what had been submitted in their absence, Abramova said "that is a question for the court"



(CLIP HERE https://www.dropbox.com/s/jzcw34kar2xhoat/abramova%20translated%20ipad.mov).



Gifty who at a point told the judge she was illiterate and could better express herself in Twi said she was surprised when Inusah Bassit objected and "lied" to the court that English was the official language in Ghana and that every Ghanaian including her (Gifty) speak good English so no need for another Ghanaian (Twi-English translator) in the court room. She says Inusah misled the court when he told the judge that even his (Inusah's) sister attended school with Gifty. A cousin of Gifty in Moscow however confirmed to our correspondent that though she manages to speak some English, Gifty did not even attend primary school. Gifty's expressions were translated into English by her co accused fiancée before being translated into Russian by the court interpreter; the judge neither spoke nor understood English. Gifty said she also wanted another Ghanaian in the court room to witness what was happening to them at the court (COURT EXPERIENCE AUDIO). In a brief encounter with the judge while signing the Protokol Sudebnovo Zasedania (transcript of court proceedings), Nana Addo Akyeampon asked the judge whether it was true that at a point in the trial Gifty asked to see a doctor regarding her abdominal pains of which she (the judge) upheld an objection by the consular officer. The judge said it was no fault of hers, that after Mr. Inusah’s objection she turned to Gifty again who told her (the judge) that "its ok, she will try and manage so the trial should proceed".



The judge whom the couple has praised for sympathizing largely with them was said to have asked at a point in the trial to see evidence that Inusah Bassit was actually a Ghanaian consular officer. According to Gifty the judge shook her head in disbelief when Inusah Bassit showed the court his Ghanaian diplomatic passport which the judge mistakenly dropped on the floor while giving it back. They were given the minimum sentence of a year and half after their lawyers made a no-case submission that they were arrested in their home without any evidence produced in the court. She said while in jail, a letter an English co-prisoner helped her write to the Ghana embassy to ask for help was returned rejected. The couple further spoke of their horrible experiences in surviving the Russian prison conditions. They said a Nigerian ambassador who saw them there during a visit expressed shock when he heard that their consular officer wanted them imprisoned in Russia without recourse to alternative mechanisms especially after the alleged victim of the assault had been sent back to Ghana, crippling the evidential value of flawed police statements. They talked of how they were usually teased by a Nigerian prisoner that only Ghana embassy scores own goals by imprisoning or testifying against her own. Gifty also narrated how Inusah teased her when they came out of prisons, preventing her from ever meeting the ambassador. She spoke of her depressions post-prison and how at a point she wanted to commit suicide at the embassy when Inusah Bassit teased and threatened to send her back to jail. Inusah who has refused to comment on the matter when contacted rather threatened to go to court to clear his name. Some of his victims have however dared him to do so within ten days or they will take a similar action against him.



The couple are currently said to be cooperating with an Australian movie company in a documentary on their experiences. Gifty who won a good girl award in the Russian prison however won’t confirm the offers of bidding Ghanaian movie producers as rumored.



Another Ghanaian lady also strongly shared her experiences (AUDIO HERE). Gifty full AUDIO NARRATION HERE In a related development, the Ghana Mission in Russia has been unable to authenticate and vouch for the credibility and reliability of an earlier story by the Daily Graphic that quoted an embassy 'report' naming some Ghanaian citizens in Russia as prostitutes etc. In a letter cited by our correspondent, the student had written to ask the mission to confirm if indeed they had conducted any such credible investigations as claimed by the graphic reporter, Mr. Sydney Abugri and if so, how they established the guilt and involvement of the named citizens in such criminal activities without prosecution since the victims have categorically denied involvement saying they had not even been invited or questioned by any court or committee over the matter. In a sensational report around same time as the 'yerundal trial' in 2009 the 'report' believed to have come from the consular officer in Moscow named the Ghanaians, claiming it was the result of a collaborative investigation with the Russian foreign ministry in Moscow. While the Russian foreign ministry officials denied knowledge of any such formal investigation and the existence of such a report, the Ghana mission equally had no trace or evidence in its archives to support the graphic claims. The reporter currently on retirement has refused to pick his calls after failing to produce the 'report' he claimed to be quoting from, saying he will get back to our correspondent when he finds the report. Then consular officer Inusah Bassit when confronted by some of the victims to produce his evidence also denied ever being part of the investigation/publication or connivance with the reporter telling a named ex fiancé that he was not 'stupid' to have published her name. But the unconvinced defamed victims continuously alleged Inusah, currently a director at the passport office, did so to victimise and for his own self promotion since he was the only person who knew their full names as used in the publications by virtue of his position then. When contacted the ambassador equally distanced the mission from the damning report, asking whether the Graphic said it was the embassy that gave them the report of the story. When told that the graphic reporter quoted the embassy as the source of its story, he further asked if our correspondent saw the embassy's official signature or seal authenticating the story. He however did not explain why the mission did not write to the Daily Graphic to formally distance itself from the graphic story. The defamed victims most of whom appeared to have had "historical issues" with Inusah Bassit spoke of their ordeal and the harm the publication caused them (AUDIO HERE). They have denied their involvement and dared Inusah, the Mission, the Daily Graphic and its reporter Sydney George Abugri to produce the report and to either publish their evidence or retract the story. An opinion leader however questioned "if the ambassador and the consular officers did not authorise such a report then how did graphic get the story with detailed names and if the story is true, why are the officials running away from the story... if its not true why did our shameless officials not write a rejoinder to deny their involvement and clear the names of the defamed Ghanaian citizens.." he asked. Some Ghanaians expressed their disappointment in the embassy officials with a lady saying "how do you openly date a woman for long and then publish her full name in graphic that she is a prostitute without adding your own name as a male prostitute and you do this only after she leaves you for your unfaithfulness"? In the wake of a lack of an identifiable author or a person taking responsibility for the said "collaborative investigative report" many a Ghanaian have wondered if this 'report' really exists, and if it does how credible is it; or was it just cooked by some elements of the mission to defame its own citizens?



Some Ghanaians in the Russian Federation have called on governments to carefully scrutinize the sort of people sent abroad to our embassies to represent Ghana's interests.







audio1 initial encounter http://hu.lk/txqlnwsi6z9c

audio2 other ghanaians share similar experiences http://hu.lk/a4iy7rkj5m2o

audio3 the menses part http://hu.lk/hclcg59x2eps

audio4 tricked to sign confession http://hu.lk/oqgb1kmw6pds

audio5 agnes narh denies http://hu.lk/zfukj4u9hxc0

audio6 at the court http://hu.lk/9vsocmmr75ds

audio7 another gh lady shares her bitter experiences with him

http://www.hulkshare.com/83eyzsky98xs

audio8 GIFTY FULL AUDIO http://hu.lk/mrnuclk8du68

GRAPHIC VICTIMS SPEAK http://hu.lk/nim9wi71eosg



Source: Mark Pepprah Ansah e-mail: mkpprah86@live.co.uk