Court remanding of Delta Force members ‘unwise’ – JOY

The decision of the trial judge to remand into custody the 13 members of the Delta Force who appeared before a Kumasi Circuit Court last week lacked “wisdom”, two-time independent presidential candidate Jacob Osei-Yeboah, has stated.

The 13, who return to court today, Tuesday, 11 April, are facing charges of conspiracy to commit crime, assault of a public officer, causing unlawful damage, and preventing a public officer from performing his lawful duties when they stormed the Ashanti Regional Security Council on 24 March to drag the regional security coordinator, George Agyei, out of his office.

The group had said they would not allow Mr Agyei to work in his capacity as he was not native to the region and did not partake in the campaign that brought the New Patriotic Party to power following the 2016 polls.

They are set to face fresh charges after some of their supporters aided them to escape from lawful custody moments after trial judge Mary Nsenkyire declined the accused bail, ordering that they be remanded for a fortnight. The 13 later turned themselves in to the police.

But the decision of the Circuit Court judge has been criticised by Mr Osei-Yeboah.

In an interview with Accra100.5FM on Ghana Yensom on Tuesday, the politician and businessman said a more agreeable decision would have been arrived at had Ms Nsenkyire assessed circumstances.

He said the accused, following the attack on Mr Agyei, had turned themselves in to the police and had been granted police enquiry bail, duly making themselves available to be ushered to court last week. Further, he said police had not seen the need to cuff the 13 because of their cooperation, for which reason the same police officers did not find it necessary to call for reinforcement on the day the 13 went to trial.

“It was an unwise decision by the judge,” Mr Osei-Yeboah told show host Chief Jerry Forson, adding that the chaos that erupted after the judge’s ruling was proof that it was “not a good decision”.

Judges, he said, were “human and fallible” and need to “tamper justice with mercy” in some situations, adding: “In a democracy, if you do not get judges who are patriotic, who are very learned and have a high level of integrity, they can always mess up democratic situations. That is what is happening.”