COPEC together with some driver unions has intervened to provide legal aid for the driver and his mate.
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Cop beaters: COPEC joins driver unions to fight police in court
The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has pledged legal support for a commercial vehicle driver and his mate, who was captured on video mercilessly beating up a policeman.
Cop beaters
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Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah said they "have all joined to give assistance to the driver and mate just to ensure that at least they will be given fair trial if indeed they have committed a crime."
The commercial bus driver and his mate (conductor) who assaulted a police officer at Weija, a suburb of Accra, have been slapped with four counts of assaulting a police officer and causing road obstruction.
Francis Buabeng, a 26-year-old driver and Albert Ansah, a 33-year-old driver's mate, were arrested after a formal complaint was lodged by the assaulted police officer to the Odorkor Police.
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The victim, Constable Julius Mawuli Ekpe, attached to the Regional Visibility Unit, who sustained various degrees of injury, has been treated and discharged at the Police Hospital.
Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Command, DSP Effia Tenge said the incident occurred on March 14 at Mallam in Accra.
She said constable Ekpe was on duty on the Kasoa-Mallam road and spotted a sprinter commercial (trotro) bus with registration number AW 855-14 loading passengers in the middle of the Kasoa-Mallam highway.
The two were arraigned before the Weija District Court on Monday where they pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against them.
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They have been remanded in police custody until April 1.
Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah speaking on Accra-based Kasapa FM said the driver and mate won't be left to their fate but ensure they have access to justice.
He said "The poor and vulnerable should be supported in our justice system because they have often been treated unfairly; we must build a system that must accommodate every Ghanaian. Is there no legal remedy for provocation? Is there no legal remedy for self-defense? The driver and mate have been remanded. What about the Police officer who various eye witness has testified against that he allegedly started the fight by slapping the driver when he stopped them.
"It should be established that an officer of the law should not himself become a lawless citizen…I think we should move away from that culture where we get overly intimidated by the men in uniform. What we are asking is that is the law being applied fairly to all manner of persons as demanded by our constitution?"
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