Oliver Barker-Vormawor
Another set of 13 persons, including Oliver Barker-Vormawor, have been remanded into police custody for two weeks by a Circuit Court in Accra, for their alleged involvement in the chaotic demonstration at 37 Roundabout in Accra.
Barker-Vormawor, who is one of the leaders of the group calling itself ‘Demcracy Hub’, made his first appearance in court yesterday following his absence on Wednesday due to illness.
This brings to 52, the number of persons remanded by court for their alleged roles in the altercations between the police and the demonstrators.
They have been charged with offences including unlawful assembly, unlawful damage, offensive conduct conducive to breach of peace, assault on a public officer and defacement of public property, while Barker-Vormawor was separately charged with stealing a key from a police vehicle and throwing it away.
Not Guilty
They all pleaded not guilty to the charges, and their lawyers took turns to plead with the court to grant the accused persons bail, stressing on the alleged mistreatment they suffered while in police custody, and that the police are under resourced to adequately cater for the accused persons.
Counsel for Barker-Vormawor, Dr. Srem Sai, told the court his client is not a flight risk and has so much at stake, hence, would avail himself for the trial.
He said the police do not have a right to tell the people not to demonstrate, hence urged the court to grant his client and the other accused persons bail pending trial.
The prosecution, led by Nana Akosua Kusi, a State Attorney, opposed the grant of bail, arguing that none of the accused persons have demonstrated to the satisfaction of the court they meet the grounds to be granted bail.
She denied allegation of mistreatment of the accused persons and that they were not being fed while in custody, indicating that all the accused persons were fed and given water while in custody.
She also mentioned that Barker-Vormawor is standing trial for treason felony, yet went ahead to commit this alleged offence.
The presiding judge, Kwabena Kodua Obiri-Yeboah, denied the applications for bail and remanded the accused persons in police custody to reappear on October 8, 2024.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak