Daasebre Pleads Not Guilty

Daasebre Gyamenah, the Ghanaian Music Start who is facing trial in the UK for illegal drug importation into the UK has pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him at his first appearance at the Isleworth Crown Court in London.

He has therefore been remanded in prison custody to reappear before the same court on the 20th of November this year.

Gyamenah, who has already been arranged before the Uxbridge Magistrate courts for procedural trial on the alleged offence on four occasions, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday June 29 of this year, when he disembarked from a British Airways flight from Accra to London by security and customs officials for possessing substances suspected to be cocaine.

The case was committed to the Crown Court at its last sitting on the 8th of august, this year because the magistrate court had been denied jurisdiction over the case due to the nature of the offence.

The Isleworth Crown Court is the next highest court in the area which deals with such serious offences as drug cases.

Initially, the substance was valued to have cost 100 thousand pounds but at the crown court last Thursday, the 7th of September, the value was reduced to 84, 988 pounds.

Gyamena’s demeanour at the court for the first time since his arrest was not as pleasant as before. Although he appeared in a neat white ‘T Shirt’ with a nice blue jeans to match and his wedding ring and a nice wrist watch, his hair and moustache were not neat enough and were very unusual with the ‘crowd puller.’

Besides, he looked so dejected and disappointed in quite contrast to his former four court appearance at the Uxbridge magistrate court.

When his charge was read to him, ‘Mr. Gyamenah on Thursday, the 29th day of June 2006, you unlawfully, imported illegal drugs into the country from Accra, Ghana into the United Kingdom in contravention of section 3, subsection 1 under the UK illegal drug importation act of 1979, are you guilty or not guilty?’ He affirmatively answered, not guilty.

Counsel for Daasebre Gyamenah, Mr. Mohamed Reza Ally of the Ally Lindsay Solicitors, told the court that there was the need to bring two identified witnesses from Ghana to testify in the case and therefore prayed the court that a date in November will be suitable than an initial one set for October. The court granted the request and set the date as 20th November during which he will open his defence.

Speaking to this reporter later, Mr. Ally re-iterated that his client stands a high chance of being discharged considering the evidences gathered from Ghana and in the UK. He however did not disclose what evidences they are. He also did not reveal what his defences will be, explaining that it will not be a ‘good strategy to do that.’

On the question of why he did not request for bail on behalf of his client as promised earlier in an interview with this reporter, he noted that ‘it was based on the directives of my client’ ‘he did not want me to request for the bail’. He added.

As to why Daasebre prayed him not to request for bail, Mr. Ally noted, that was not known. Investigations conducted have also revealed that Daasebre does not want people to contact him in his prison cells.