Eleven personnel from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service grilled the National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, when he reported to answer questions on the leaked viral audio tape which have been attributed to him.
The eleven, three of whom were lawyers from the CID, faced the six-lawyer team from the side of the accused, Mr. Ofosu Ampofo.
One of the lawyers for Mr. Ofosu Ampofo, Abraham Amaliba, made the revelations on Onua FM’s Yen Sempa on Tuesday hosted by Bright Asempa.
“Eleven CID officers, who were made of three lawyer interrogated him and we were six lawyers. We were going with twelve lawyers but the CID said we were too many and we were reduced to six,” he explained.
The police have leveled four charges against Mr. Ofosu Ampofo after he reported himself to answer questions concerning a leaked tape in which he is said to have made certain statements inciting violence.
The four charges were threat of harm, conspiracy to harm, rioting and assault of a public official.
Lawyer Amaliba said: “When we entered the CID headquarters, they just announced it at the conference room that, formally, you are under arrest. You have been charged with threat of harm, conspiracy to harm, rioting and assault of a public official. So we asked where that charge was coming from and they said it is coming from a tape that is going around on the social media.”
The private legal practitioner said “about 30 minutes of the audio was played for him to listen after which he was asked whether that was his voice but Mr. Ofosu Ampofo said ‘I do not want to comment on this tape because it is a doctored one’.”
Asked why they went with 12 lawyers, Mr. Amaliba said “the man is entitled to any number of lawyers. Constitutionally, he has the right to any choice of lawyer ones he can pay them”.
Seizure of Ofosu Ampofo Mobile Phone
Lawyer Amaliba explained that the lawyers advised the National Chairman to leave his mobile phones in the house so he had no mobile phones on him at the time at the CID so they had to accompany him to his house to retrieve that phones.
He explained that “they [CID] would have to go to court for court orders to allow them go into his phones but they have the phones in their possession”.
Sureties
Lawyer Amaliba confirmed that the Chairman was granted bail after initial interrogation by the Police to the tune of GH¢400,000 with two sureties.
“We were even asking for self-recognizance bail but they [CID] said we should provide the sureties so the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia and the Greater Accra Regional Chairman, Joseph Kobina Ade Coker, stood sureties for the Chairman”.
Lawyer Amaliba said “the CID lawyers even saw there was nothing in it that was incriminating but he was asked to report on Thursday”.
By Kweku Antwi-Otoo|3news.com|Ghana