The public uproar over the arrest of 39 people over the anti-galamsey demonstration held from September 21 to September 23, 2024, by the Democratic Hub, continues as the state continues to detain the accused persons more than 36 hours after their arrests.
More relatives of the arrested persons are expressing their anger over the refusal of state authorities to release their relatives, some of whom they say are sick and had nothing to do with the lawlessness that was seen during the demonstration.
The brother of one of the arrested demonstrators has said that a police officer called him and said his sister, who he said had been kept at the Police Headquarters, was seriously ill and that the family should come and help her.
He said that when they got to the Police Headquarters, the police refused them access to his sister, who he said had many medical conditions.
“This morning, I received a call and the person mentioned his name as Inspector Ken and that he was speaking from the National Police Headquarters. He told me that my sister wasn’t fine and so we should come to check up on her as a family. I got to the national Police Headquarters and I was denied access to her. I called the number several times. The number is here. I checked mobile money, the name came Kennedy (sic) or something.
“We called several times. There was this policewoman at the gate, the name was Agyapong. I told her that I just received a call from this number that my sister, who is diabetic and asthmatic and is battling glaucoma, is here. I am told she is not fine. We want to check up on her. The woman took the number, she also called several times but that number didn’t answer until I heard that they were being brought to court,” he said in an interview with Metro TV.
He added, “I went to the Kaneshie Police Station and the session officer told me that specific instructions had been given that they should not be granted access to any family member, not even a lawyer. I made them aware that my sister is diabetic. I made them aware that she is asthmatic. I told them that she had glaucoma, so she would need her drugs. They said no.”
The brother of the arrested protester, who identified himself as a journalist, said that the only crime of his sister was that she was livestreaming the demonstration.
“At the time she was arrested, she was live on TikTok so she was just streaming the proceedings of the protest on her social media handle and then she is being treated as if she was some sort of criminal or someone who committed any heinous crime in this country.”
The 39 people who were arrested for engaging in various acts of lawlessness at the 37 Intersection in Accra on September 22 and 23, 2024, were remanded by the court.
The court remanded 28 of them into police custody and the remaining 11 into prison custody.
According to a statement issued by the Police Service, thirty (30) of the accused persons are to reappear before the court on October 8, 2024, while nine others are to appear before the court on October 11, 2024.
“The remaining suspects will be put before the court to face justice. The case is being prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney-General,” the statement said.
Watch his remarks in the video below:
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
