Judge’s demeanour shows our subsequent bail application will fail – Aisha Huang’s lawyer cries out

Captain Nkrebeah Effah Dartey (retired), the lawyer for embattled illegal mining kingpin Aisha Huang, has expressed disappointment in the presiding judge of an Accra High Court for refusing his client bail once again.

The criminal trial of Aisha Huang, who is facing charges of engaging in illegal mining and the sale of minerals without a license, commenced at the Criminal Court 5 of the Accra High Court on Wednesday, September 9, 2022.

The court presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, before adjourning the trial, refused a bail application by the lawyer for the accused.

According to the judge, who was rejecting the application for the third time, her reasons remain that the accused person is a flight risk as she is a foreigner with no social ties to Ghana.

Justice Marfo added that the trial is expected to conclude without delay due to the pace of the proceedings.

But reacting to the judge’s decision in an interview with the press, Mr Effah Dartey described the decision as unfortunate.

“Once again, unfortunately, my application for bail was turned down, and I feel very embarrassed. But it’s one of the nuances of the game,” he said.

Asked if he intended to repeat his application again, the lawyer for the accused said he does not see the court granting such a request looking at the demeanour of the judge.

“The law gives us the opportunity to repeat applications as often as possible except that looking at the demeanour of the judge it might not be a useful exercise,” he added.

The prosecution on Wednesday called its first witness, Supt. Ransford Aborabora of the Ghana Immigration Service.

The witness, led by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, told the court that he led a team of officers to raid an illegal mining site at Bepotenteng in the Ashanti Region on May 6, 2017.

The raid, which was part of an enforcement exercise by the Immigration Service, according to the witness, saw the arrest of four Chinese nationals.

One of the Chinese nationals, Gao Gin, according to the witness, informed him that they were at the mining site working on behalf of Aisha Huang, who had their passports in her custody.

The officer added that he took a video and pictures of the site, which was tendered into evidence and played in court.

During cross-examination by the defence counsel, the witness admitted that he had no direct evidence to confirm that the accused person was engaged in illegal mining.

The case has been adjourned to Monday, November 14, 2022, where the prosecution is expected to call its second witness.



Background:

Ms. Huang, in 2017 was charged for undertaking small-scale mining operations contrary to Section 99 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).

She was also charged with providing mine support services without valid registration with the Minerals Commission, contrary to Sections 59 and 99 (2) of the Minerals and Mining Act, and also charged with illegal employment of foreign nationals (in breach of section 24 of the Immigration Act and regulation 18 of the Immigration Regulations).

Her case was, however, discontinued, and she was deported. Her deportation meant the state discontinued the trial against her.

She, however, found her way back into the country, leading to her recent arrest. An Accra Circuit court last week remanded Aisha Huang and three other Chinese nationals into custody to reappear on charges of illegal gold mining and trading.

Her recent arrest is on the same issue of illegal mining.



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