On June 1, 2023, the Accra High Court will decide whether to grant bail to Gregory Afoko, who has been charged with the murder of former New Patriotic Party Upper East Regional Chairman Adams Mahama.
This was after four of the seven jurors acquitted him and the applicant applied for bail pending a retrial of the case.
Affoco’s attorney, Steven Sowa Cherway, said: I will comment on the motion and the supporting affidavit.
“The rationale for our application is very simple: from the arrest of the applicant on May 21, 2018 to the present, we have had two full trials.
“The first trial lasted about three years and was called off just as both parties were scheduled to address the court before summons,” he said.
“The second trial also lasted just over three years, from 2019 to 2023. This second trial ended after the State presented 16 witnesses and the jury considered the evidence presented by the State. The trial ended with four jurors finding the applicant not guilty and three jurors finding otherwise, and a new trial was ordered as required by law.” said the lawyer.
He said a bail application was made before the conclusion of the second trial and was granted, but the applicant was not released for inexplicable reasons even though all bail conditions were fulfilled.
He said there was a later decision that the bail would be revoked and the applicant would be detained for eight years, followed by two full trials over about six years.
“It is our respectful opinion that the continued detention of the applicant is unjust, without justification, and unconscionable. The defendant is innocent until proven guilty. is a trivial rule of law.”
“Like the constitutional right to a fair trial, to a trial within a reasonable trial, the constitutional right to release the defendant on bail is also the constitutional right to bail, Article 14 of the 1992 Constitution. It is specified in Section 4.”
According to lawyers, the applicant did not engage in any defiant behavior while in detention.
He said Afoko had no criminal record prior to his arrest, as no guilt had been proven.
Cherway added that the applicant was prepared to meet all bail conditions as he had in 2019.
“He intends to use the land’s citizenship for a retrial as per the court’s order.”
But state prosecutor Madame Esi Dom Fiazo, who opposed the bail application, said, “We are against the application and rely on the affidavit to the contrary and all the consents therein.” .
She said the applicant was granted bail in 2019, but failed to meet all the bail conditions, as her attorney said.
“Miss, throughout the filing, the lawyer kept saying that the applicant was being unlawfully detained and that this was unjust, unconstitutional and unconscionable. We believe that the Constitution guarantees individual liberty. Nevertheless, I would like to correct the fact that the same Constitution provides for circumstances in which that freedom may be restricted, one of which is detention during a trial.”
“The State called 16 witnesses and presented some evidence, but unfortunately it was brought to a jury. Until then he is not free.He is now in legal custody.”
Afoko and Asangi Asanke were accused of pouring acid on the deceased Adams, causing him to die.
After the trial, a jury found Assangi guilty and sentenced him to life in prison.
Source: GNA