Ghanaian amputee to seek legal aid in The Hague

Mr Samuel Emmanuel Opare, a 53 year old Ghanaian returnee from Egypt is seeking legal aid to pursue a case at the International Court of Justice at The Hague against the Egyptian police administration for alleged ruthless and inhuman treatment meted out to him while in Egypt.

The Senfi born claims he was involved in an industrial accident which led to the amputation of his right arm.

He said instead of being compensated, he was arrested, brutalized and eventually deported to Ghana at a time a court of law had ruled in his favour for compensation from his employers.

The returnee said while he was pursuing compensation claims, Cairo police officials wrongfully arrested him for not possessing a resident permit.

Opare stated that even though he had a valid resident permit he was detained in police custody for over a month.

According to Opare, he was one morning awakened to his being hospitalized at a Cairo hospital at a time he was supposed to be in police custody.

On regaining consciousness, he was told by officials of the Ghana Embassy in Cairo that he had been involved in an accident resulting in the loss of his three fingers.

A police report of 2001 singed by Captain Ahmed Shawki of the Cairo Security department available to The Chronicle indicated that Opare was rushed to the Matareya Educational Hospital on August 21, 2001 with atom left hand with the little finger, ring finger and middle fingers severed.

He was also suspected to have cerebral concussion.

The report indicated that Corporal Gomeah Mohammed Mostafa of Air Shams Police station, who was escorting Opare to immigration office because he did not have a resident permit, claimed he had handcuffed Opare since his right hand had already been amputated.

The police officer reported that at the underground station Opare slipped and fell between the platform and the railway lines and that he was very lucky to have been saved by the police officer who pulled him out from the path of an on-coming train but not after the train had already chopped off his three fingers.

Opare has doubted the police report and described it as strange because he does not recollect any such incident. All he remembers is that he was involved in an accident and regained consciousness in the hospital.

The amputee said there was no chance of survival if he had been run over by an underground train and described the police report as a fabricated one and an attempt to kill him in order to deny him of his claim to compensation.

According to Opare, he would have taken legal action against the Egyptian Police but was suddenly deported rendering him financially incapacitated to do so.

He is appealing to the President, the Foreign Affairs ministry and philanthropists to assist him to pursue the case against the Egyptian police.

Opare would appreciate assistance in the form of legal aid to pursue the case at the International court of justice at The Hague to seek justice.