Tribunal grants bail to HIV-positive Dutch tourist

An HIV-positive Dutch Tourist, who had been in Police custody for some time now for criminally infecting several Ghanaian ladies has been granted bail in the sum of 20 million cedis by an Accra Regional Tribunal.

The tribunal ordered the accused person to report to the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) once every Monday until the final determination of the matter, and adjourned proceedings to Wednesday, December 11.

The 53-year old tourist, Rudolf Vanden Hoven, who started touring Ghana in the late 1980s, allegedly had sexual relations with several ladies in Accra, Aflao and Keta, with one of the victims dying of the disease in 1992.

When in mid-September one of Hoven's girlfriends, a hairdresser tested HIV positive at the Police Hospital, she reported the matter to the Police, who immediately picked him up.

The tribunal chaired by Mr Justice P. K. Aggrey had refused Hoven bail when he made his maiden appearance before it on a charge of intentionally causing harm.