The 13 members of the Delta Force facing trial for allegedly assaulting a public officer have been slapped with a new charge.
Prosecutor ACP Okyere Darko told the KMA Circuit Court Tuesday morning that the Attorney General has asked them to withdraw earlier charges of assaulting a public officer, conspiracy to assault, and causing unlawful damage.
He again told the court that the suspects are to be charged for rioting per the AG’s advice.
Presiding Judge Mary Senkyire, as a result, struck out all the earlier charges.
The suspects have since been re-arrested as their lawyers try to secure bail for them.
Lawyer for some of the accused, Matthew Appiah, was unhappy with the turn of events but said they will comply with the AG’s advice.
“We will comply though the police are yet to take a decision on where to keep them,” he told MG News‘s Ibrahim Abubakar.
“We are yet to go and see if we can get bail for them.”
The 13 suspects will now be on trial at a district court.
“We have insisted that the charges against them are unfounded and we still stand by those stands that we have taken,” the lawyer pointed out.
The 13 were arrested for assaulting the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator in March.
But they were later ‘freed’ by some members of the pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP) vigilante group.
WATCH: Delta Force’s ‘freedom’ action in Kumasi court
Source: 3news.com|Ghana