Counsel for the senior police officer who has been charged with treason for his alleged involvement in a coup plot says his client’s family has been denied access to him.
Martin Kpebu said ACP Dr Benjamin Agordzor’s family have been at the offices of the BNI since 6 a.m.Tuesday but officials there will not allow them to see him.
“Since morning, it is only the receptionist who has spoken to us. They’ve denied his wife, sons, sister, uncles, sister and brothers access. They have been here since 6:30 AM. I came much later and I have also been denied access.
“At one point, his wife and the rest of the family were told, they will be granted access at 8 a.m. 8 a.m. came, no show and then the story has been changing…now we just don’t know what to do,” Mr Kpebu said in an interview on Joy News at midday.
ACP Dr Benjamin Agordzor, the Director of Transformational Programme Office at the Police Service, was charged with abetment to commit treason on Monday.
He has been accused of communicating with the alleged coup plotters who the government said had been cooking an elaborate plan to destabilise the country.
At the BNI offices, ACP Agordzor was confronted with the messages from a group platform on WhatsApp in which he had allegedly advised members who were planning a demonstration to seek police permit.
It has also emerged that he donated GHS2,000 to that same platform and assisted the alleged leader of the coup plotter, Dr Frederick Yao Mac-Palm through messages he sent on the instant messaging platform. The nature of that assistance has not been clarified.
The police officer has been denied bail and was kept in BNI custody overnight.
In an interview on Joy News, Martin Kpebu expressed surprise at his client’s arrest for a comment on WhatsApp, questioning why his family has not been allowed to see him.
“This is traumatising. This is unbecoming, we will not tolerate that in this country. Yesterday for over 7 hours, they confronted us with only WhatsApp messages.
“This is not a man who has been accused of acquiring a needle, scissors or a knife for a coup, no that is not it, only WhatsApp messages in which he said Ghana has conditions rife for an Arab Spring,” a baffled Kpebu said.
For Mr Kpebu, many Ghanaians, including himself have made similar comments so that cannot be grounds for an arrest and a treason charge.
“What is treasonous about this,” he queried.
Source: Myjoyonline