THE BRUTALITY OF THE POLICE IN THE SPOTLIGHT ONCE AGAIN AS LAWYER FRANCIS-XAVIER SOSU BATTLES THEM IN COURT. The perennial abuse of power by the very people entrusted to defend the citizens was once again brought into sharp focus when Lawyer Francis-Xavier took to the law courts to secure the rights of a citizen against such brutality. Below is the full story. The Presiding Judge of the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court, Mr Justice Kofi Essel Mensah, has decried the wanton behaviour of some police officers that tend to give rise to judgement debts against the state. “Through the folly of some policemen, the state is incurring judgement debt left and right, and when they are dismissed, then they run to this court,” he said. Mr Justice Mensah made the comment when the case in which Nathaniel Nortey has sued the CAL Bank for breaches of his fundamental human rights came up for hearing yesterday. Joined in the action are the Inspector General of Police, the Attorney General and Corporal Bernard Frimpong of the Ghana Police Service. A State Attorney, Ms Tricia Quartey, who appeared for the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General told the court that the policeman in question, Corporal Frimpong, would not be represented by the state. The CAL Bank has, however, not filed a defence. Service enquiry Counsel for the applicant, Mr Francis-Xavier Sosu, informed the court that his client had been invited by the regional Criminal Investigations Department to give statements which they were going to use for a service enquiry to try the policeman for misconduct. On April 5, 2014, the Daily Graphic carried a story on its front page in which Mr Nortey had sued for breaches of his fundamental human rights after an encounter with a policeman on guard at the bank, who gave a warning shot in the bank to carry out his threat to shoot the applicant. The case Mr Nortey claims that he went to the Derby Avenue branch of the bank in Accra to pay some money into his account which he had been operating with the bank for seven years. After the transaction, he was going to move his car when something in a shop across the street caught his attention. He, therefore, went to the shop and while there, Corporal Frimpong, who was then on duty at the bank, went over to him and said officials of the bank wanted him (Mr Nortey) to move his car away, since he had not gone to the bank to do any business. According to Mr Nortey, he told the policeman that it was not true and subsequently produced a slip from the bank as a proof but Corporal Frimpong started screaming that he was not interested in his explanation and that he should shut up and move his car. He went back into the banking hall and asked who had told the policeman that he had not been to the bank for any transaction but while there the police officer entered the hall and started pushing him violently to leave the bank. Assault “Before I could utter another word, he slapped me in the face and I responded in the same way and he said he was going to shoot me. He cocked the gun and actually carried out his threat by opening fire in the middle of the banking hall while other customers were also transacting business,” Mr Nortey stated in an affidavit in support of his motion. According to him, the police officer fired not less than three times but he dodged the gunshots to save his life and in the process, sustained gunshot wounds on both legs. The case was adjourned to October 13, 2014. - See more at: graphic.gh/news/general-news/27413-judge-decries-wanton-behaviour-of-police-officers.html#sthash.sjCTv1jX.dpuf
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 09:50:07 +0000