A private legal Practitioner, Martin Kpebu, counsel for Assistant Commissioner of Police (Rtd) Benjamin Agordzo, who was charged with 8 others for high treason, has served notice of suing the government.
He said they are preparing to drag government to court for malicious prosecution.
Mr Kpebu said this when he spoke on TV3’s Ghana Tonight show on Wednesday, January 24.
“We are building a case, malicious prosecution. When we say malicious prosecution, it is a case where somebody takes you through the criminal justice system, through trial etc, without justifiable reason. So, we will show how this was an abuse of the process from day one.
That is to say, use the criminal justice system for your own political ends. To gag public officers. Gag them. Make sure that public officers will be so scared, they will not talk about Akufo-Addo’s misgovernance. We will look at it and build a case of malicious prosecution, so we will drag the government to court. They should come and answer,” he announced.
Earlier on January 24, the High Court acquitted ACP Agordzo, Colonel Samuel Kodzo Gameli and one other junior military officer, Corporal Seidu Abubakar of the treason charges.
Six coup plotters sentenced to death by hanging | 3News
According to Mr Kpebu, the state prosecuted his client for political gains.
“…I am saying that Akufo-Addo said Arab spring in opposition. We didn’t hear any NDC people report him to police for him to be prosecuted for saying Arab spring. So, it was clear that for such a man, he couldn’t have a public officer prosecuted for saying conditions in Ghana are ripe for an Arab spring and showing people how to organise a demonstration.
So, you’ve always known, because Akufo-Addo knew that saying Arap spring is not a crime. That’s how come nobody did anything to him when he was in opposition. So, why does he come into office and somebody is talking about Arab spring and showing people how to demonstrate and he gets prosecuted,” Mr Kpebu quizzed.
He said the state has destroyed his client, thus ACP Benjamin Agordzo must be compensated with an appointment contract although he has attained the compulsory retirement age of 60 years.
Meanwhile, six of the accused, including three soldiers were however sentenced to death by hanging. They are; Donya Kafui, aka Ezor (a blacksmith) and Bright Alan Debrah Ofosu (a fleet manager), were found guilty of conspiracy to commit treason and treason, while Johannes Zikpi (a civilian employee of the Ghana Armed Forces) was found guilty of conspiracy to commit high treason.
Meanwhile, lawyer for three of the convicted coup plotters, Victor Adawudu, says they will appeal the ruling the High Court made against his clients.
“I believe that the evidence we have put before the court is not being looked at critically, and I think that it is a process, and we will also be going to the Supreme Court for it to also look at the evidence, and you saw that the soldiers were charged with conspiracy and have been acquitted on the substantive charge so these are things that we will go to the Supreme Court to test.”
“I believe that looking at what we have put before this court, we have done well, and we will be going to the Supreme Court because they don’t even have an inventory of the time they arrested the people to show that the guns they were talking about were with the people who had them. We will see what we will do.”