Attorney-General orders the re-arrest of five Policemen

The Attorney-General, Mr Joe Ghartey on Tuesday ordered the re-arrest of the five Policemen believed to have knowledge of the missing cocaine on board the vessel MV Benjamin. The five were granted 300 million cedi bail each on Monday by an Accra Circuit court with one surety to be justified after the Prosecution withdrew charges of abetment and substituted it with extortion. They are Detective Sergeant Samuel Amoah; General Sergeant Daniel Nyarko; Detective Lance Corporal Dwamena Yabson; General Sergeant Isaac Asante and General Lance Corporal Peter Bondorin. They pleaded not guilty. Four of the Policemen have since been put into Police custody but the fifth, Detective Sergeant Samuel Amoah is yet to report or be arrested. Mr Ghartey, who is also the Minister of Justice, told the Ghana News Agency that his Office had countermanded the decision of the Chief State Attorney, Mr Cab-Beyuo, who withdrew the abetment charges, adding that fresh charges were to be preferred against the suspects. He said he read about what happened in court in the papers and immediately ordered the re-arrest of the suspects since he believed the Chief State Attorney erred. Mr Ghartey said: "The Prosecutor erred by not consulting his immediate superior or the Attorney-General before his action of changing the charges.” He said for the officers to have escorted Sheriff aka Limping Man, who is said to have offloaded the missing 77 parcels of cocaine at Kpone, near Tema, indicated aiding and abetting. Mr Ghartey said the Policemen in this matter were not by the roadside collecting bribe but assisted the process of the importation of the cocaine. He said it was an error of judgement on the part of Mr Cab-Beyuo since only the Attorney-General had the power to change charges preferred against accused persons. According to the Prosecution, on April 26, 2006, the accused persons stationed at Tema New Town, Community One, Tema and Kpone had information that Sheriff, now at large, was taking delivery of parcels of cocaine at Kpone Beach, near Tema. They were said to have abetted with him to offload the missing 77 parcels of cocaine. The accused persons mobilized themselves to arrest Sheriff. They went and saw the parcels but on the contrary ignored it. The Prosecution said the accused persons went on a ride in Sheriff's vehicle to his residence where they took some money and allowed him to go. The Prosecution said their acts contravened the laws of the State and would lead evidence to prove their case. The missing of the 77 parcels of cocaine had led to extensive investigation and publicity leading to the establishment of the Justice Georgina Wood Committee, which has recently submitted its report. The case has led to some senior police officers being implicated. Some suspects are appearing before an Accra High Court. The Justice Georgina Wood Committee presented its report to Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister of the Interior at a well attended ceremony at the Ministry of Information and National Orientation in Accra on Friday. The Report, whose content was not disclosed, was to be passed on promptly to the Attorney-General's Department for its comments and advice. The Committee was set up July 4, 2006 to investigate the disappearance of 77 parcels of cocaine from MV Benjamin and an alleged 200,000 dollars bribe paid to Senior Police Officers by a 23-year-old woman, Ms Grace Asibi. Ms Asibi is the girlfriend of a Venezuelan drug fugitive Vasquez Geraldo Duarte David, who is at the centre of the seizure of some 588 kilograms of cocaine from a house at East Legon in Accra. Mr Ghartey said his outfit would study the Report and advise the Government accordingly. "We shall advise and prosecute not persecute without fear, favour, ill-will or hatred towards any person. "We shall do what we have to do in accordance with the law. "Let us all remember the words of the President when he reminded us recently that no one is above the law. "Let us also remember that in our legal jurisprudence everyone is innocent unless proven guilty. For those who we have grounds to believe are guilty, we shall seek to prove this in a court of law." The Committee was charged to determine the actual number of narcotic drug parcels on board the vessel immediately before it was intercepted and whether some of the parcels on board the vessel were removed before it was intercepted. The Committee was to establish when and how the removal happened and recommend the appropriate punishment. The Committee was also to investigate any other issues relating to the loss of narcotics drugs and make recommendations on how to avoid recurrence. The Committee had the additional mandate of investigating the various allegations levelled against some Police Officers with respect to the seizure of a quantity of narcotic drugs at East Legon and to advise on appropriate actions against any person or persons found culpable. In the case of the MV Benjamin, the issue, which took centre stage, was a recording of a conversation relating to the disappearance of the cocaine from the ship at a meeting between some alleged drug dealers in the house of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kofi Boakye. The key witnesses in that tape recording, which came to be known as the "Kofi Boakye Tape", were arrested when they came to testify before the Committee. The witnesses included Alhaji Issah Abass,Kwabena Amaning also called Tagor and Kwabena Acheampong.