CHRAJ Petitioned the Police over ‘#Say No To Galamsey’ Protest

CHRAJ has been petitioned to investigate the police regarding the ‘Say No To Galamsey’ protest. Lawyers from Democracy Hub have submitted a petition to CHRAJ to look into the actions of the police during the Say No To Galamsey demonstration.

Lawyers from Democracy Hub, the group behind the ‘Reoccupy Julorbi House’ and ‘Say No To Galamsey’ protests, have submitted a petition to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) requesting an investigation into the police’s actions during the recent demonstrations.

A total of 48 protesters were arrested following the protests on Saturday and Sunday. Of these, twenty-eight were remanded into police custody after being denied bail on Tuesday, September 24.

Additionally, eleven others were also denied bail but were placed in prison custody.

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In a statement, the police labelled the protest as an “unlawful assembly” and accused the demonstrators of disrupting public order. They subsequently arrested the protesters and brought them to court.

However, the legal representatives of Democracy Hub have lamented the process and manner in which their clients were arrested and processed to court. They claim that the clients were given unfair treatment and described the arrest as “unlawful.”

They have since urged CHRAJ to investigate all allegations of unlawful arrest and treatment by the police.

Twenty-eight persons from different backgrounds who participated in the 3-day Democracy Hub demonstrations have been remanded into police custody after an Accra Circuit Court denied their bail application on Tuesday, September 24.

Five counts of charges were proffered against them after their arrests on Saturday, September 21. The charges are;
– Conspiracy to commit crime – unlawful assembly
– Unlawful assembly
– Destruction of property
– Offensive conduct
– Assault on a public officer

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Eleven (11) others whose cases were heard in another circuit court were also denied bail but were remanded into prison custody after their lawyer prayed for an adjournment to study their charges.

He was furnished with the charge sheet during the court hearing. The charges included the initial five in addition to the defacement of public property.

Their pleas were therefore not taken.

The court also issued a bench warrant for one of the protesters who was previously released on police inquiry bail but failed to appear in court, despite being aware of the proceedings, according to the prosecution.

Demands from Democracy Hub

In a petition sighted by 3News dated September 25, the lawyers are demanding that CHRAJ makes a finding that “the rights and freedoms of the protesters were violated.”

“That the police’s conduct including unlawful arrest, unlawful detention, detention without food, violation of the right to counsel, amounts to unprofessional conduct.”

The petition signed by Timothy Selikem Donkor on behalf of the lawyers for Democracy Hub also wants CHRAJ to take legal action against the police to ensure that the officers involved face the law.