Barker-Vormawor’s lawyers drag IGP, AG to Supreme Court for handling case in district court

Lawyers for the embattled #FixTheCountry convener, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, have dragged the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Attorney-General (AG) to the Supreme Court to challenge the decision to put their client before a district court.

They want the Court to determine whether the Police have discharged their constitutional duty by sending their client to a court with no jurisdiction to consider a bail application.

According to them, the ruling of the High Court ‘B’, Tema, dated February 17, 2022, entails a grave error of law which error is patent on the face of the record.

The Applicants are, by their motion, praying the Court to exercise its discretion to grant the following reliefs:

a. “Make an order of certiorari to issue to the High Court ‘B’, Tema, to bring up to this honourable Court to have quashed its ruling dated February 17, 2022, which was given under the hand of His Lordship, the judge, Justice Daniel Mensah, J., refusing to issue a writ of habeas corpus subjiciendum in respect of the Detained directed at the Respondents, their agents, assigns and workmen howsoever described or styled.

b. “Give a true and proper interpretation of whether by sending a person they have restricted, arrested or detained to a court which has no jurisdiction to consider an application for bail in respect of the person who is restricted, arrested or detained, the Police have discharged their duty under Article 14(3) of the 1992 Constitution.

c. “Issue a writ of habeas corpus subjiciendum in respect of the Detained directed at the Respondents, their agents, assigns and workmen howsoever described or styled.”

The application will be heard on Wednesday by the Supreme Court.

On Monday, February 28, the Ashaiman District Court ordered the removal of Oliver Barker-Vormawor from its premises.

The youth activist had engaged in heated exchanges with the magistrate, Eleanor Barnes Botwe.

His lawyers, led by Justice Srem Sai, had inquired about the Court’s authority to deal with matters that affect the liberty of the Cambridge PhD student.

Barker-Vormawor was later heard lashing out at the ongoing legal processes against him, describing it as a sham.

“We have not asked for bail. This is a kangaroo process. The bench has not covered itself in glory. I am not going to glorify a sham,” he yelled.

This made the magistrate order his removal from the Court. However, the Court ruled that it had jurisdiction to handle the current processes filed by the prosecutors.

Background

Mr Barker-Vormawor was charged with a treason felony on February 14, 2022. This is an offence provided for in section 182(b) of Ghana’s Criminal offences Act.

This provides; “Section 182—Treason Felony. A person is guilty of treason-felony and shall be punishable as for first-degree felony who —

b) prepares or endeavours to carry out by unlawful means any enterprise which usurps the executive power of the State in any matter of both a public and a general nature.“

The youth activist is accused of threatening to stage a coup should the E-Levy policy be passed.

“If this E-Levy passes after this cake bullshit, I will do the coup myself. Useless Army!” he posted on Facebook on February 9.

He was subsequently arrested on Friday, February 11, 2022.

According to the Police, Mr Barker-Vormawor’s “post contains a clear statement of intent with a possible will to execute a coup in his declaration of intent to subvert the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.”

In Court on February 14, lawyers for Mr Barker-Vormawor, led by Anthony Akoto Ampaw, urged the Court to grant him bail.