Oliver Mawuse Barker-Vormawor
Prosecution in the matter of Oliver Mawuse Barker-Vormawor who is standing trial for treason felony over comments he made on social media have explaining the circumstanced leading to the convenor of the #FixTheCountry Movement being kept in police custody for more than 48 hours against the 1992 constitution.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sylvester Asare, the lead prosecutor in the matter before the Ashaiman District Court told the court that the Chief Justice did not respond to their application to constitute a court over the weekend for trial of the accused person hence the 52 hours detention.
He said detaining the accused person for 52 hours beyond the “within 48 hours” is allowed by the law because the additional hours falls within the period he was being prepared to appear before court since he was arrested on Friday evening.
On Friday, February 11, 2022, Barker-Vormarwor, the convenor of the #FixThe Country movement was picked up by the police at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra.
He was charged for treason felony and arraigned before the Ashaiman District Court presided over by Eleanor Barnes-Botchwey on Monday, February 14, 2022.
In court, DSP Asare while responding to a question from Judge Eleanor Kakrah Barnes Botchwey, the sitting judge on why the accused was detained for more than 48 hours, said they made the effort but it proved futile.
He indicated prosecution made official request to the office of the Chief Justice to constitute a court on Saturday but there was no response.
According to him, they tried all other means to have the accused arraigned over the weekend but “we did not get any response from the Chief Justice. We went there and the office was locked.”
He expressed that the defence lawyer alleged that they were not allowed to see their client.
DSP Asare recalled that he together with his senior Lawyer Akoto Ampaw and Dr Justice Srem Sai were at the Ashaiman District Commander’s office on Sunday trying to get a court for the accused to be arraigned.
Without wasting much time, he described the allegations as “baseless and untrue.”
The court while adjourning the case to February 28, urged the police to treat the accused person well.
The court also urged the media and the general public to be mindful of their commentaries and trust in the judiciary to do a good job.