A lower court in Accra has ruled it has legal authority to remand accused persons in all cases, and rejected a request to stay proceedings in a treasonable case brought against a top Ghanaian police officer.
Lawyers for ACP Dr Benjamin Agordzor on Wednesday raised preliminary objection, arguing the District Court has no jurisdiction to hear committal proceedings in a first degree felony case citing section 181 of Act 30 and Article 14(3) of the 1992 constitution.
For them, once the court lacks jurisdiction to grant bail in first degree felony, it cannot arrogate unto itself the power to remand.
Accordingly, they asked the court to “set down” the case to enable the defence team seek interpretation of the law at the Supreme Court on whether the practice of putting suspects before lower courts when committal proceedings are not ready is within legal.
The court presided over by Eleanor K. Botchwey deferred its ruling on the matter to November 8.
When the case resumed, the court ruled it has been cloaked with the powers of remand in all cases, and accordingly dismissed the application by the defence team.
It then remanded ACP Dr Agordzor as requested by police prosecutors who said they were still investigating the case.
Meanwhile, ACP Dr Agordzor has been charged with abetment to commit treason felony.
Prosecutors told the district court Friday that the senior police officer in November last year did abet Dr Federick Yao Mac-Palm, the prime suspect in the alleged coup plot case, and eight others with the intent to commit the crime.
According to the prosecution the accused person held several meetings with the leadership of the Take Action Ghana group who are currently in custody.
He was said to have “incited them to demonstrate against the government and to take over the government as a right”.
In his quest to show his commitment, the prosecutors said Dr Agordzor assisted “the enterprise with various sums of money to facilitate the organisation of the intended unlawful demonstraton and the taking over”.
He allegedly “drafted a speech to be delivered on that fateful day of the demonstration,” the court heard
The prosecutors told the court that further investigations into the case is ongoing.
By Stephen Kwabena Effah|3news.com|Ghana