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Passing judgement on discharge of Delta eight premature - Short

The court discharged the eight due to lack of evidence to support the charges levelled against them.

___6698645___https:______static.pulse.com.gh___webservice___escenic___binary___6698645___2017___5___18___14___EMILE

The Former Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Justice Emile Short has called on Ghanaians not to quickly pass judgement in the wake of the discharge of the eight members of the Delta Force by a Kumasi Circuit Court Wednesday.

A Kumasi Circuit court presided over by Her Honour, Patricia Amponsah was forced to discharge the accused persons and dismissed the case of the Delta Force members.

Explaining the decision the prosecutor, ACP Okyere Darko, said there was not enough evidence to support the charges levelled against the accused persons. He added that he had orders from the Attorney General Gloria Akufo to drop the charges against them.

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But many Ghanaians have expressed anger with the development, with the Minority Leader of parliament Haruna Iddrisu describing the move as travesty of justice.

But speaking on Accra-based Starr FM, Emile Short said said even though the conduct of the eight was an assault on the “dignitary of the court” the judicial process had to be followed.

“So I think we have to wait until the investigations are completed and the report is published and then a decision is taken. …It is important to point out that they were not acquitted and discharged.

“They were just discharged which means they can be re-arrested. Therefore I think at this stage it is premature to start passing judgement and we should wait for the report on the investigations which has been ordered by the attorney General’s office,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice has said that it is not privy to the decision to drop charges against the eight members of a pro-NPP vigilante group.

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This was contained in a statement issued by the Ministry of Information.

The statement argued that that the Principal State Attorney in the case did not consult the Attorney General before dropping the charges against the accused.

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