Some concerned youth of Asawase have expressed dissatisfaction with the account of Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery on how 34-year-old Yussif Salawudeen died in police custody.
The Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery on Tuesday, August 1 told Parliament that police investigations into the suspect revealed that he died after hitting his head against a wall while running away from the police.
But a group calling itself Concern Youth of Asawase in a statement dismissed the Interior Minister’s account and said he either doesn’t “appreciate the matter” or the investigations “may not lead us anywhere from this preliminary stage of the matter.”
The group said it will not relent until the case is thoroughly investigated and justice served.
Below is the full statement.
CONCERN YOUTH OF ASAWASE
The interior minister’s defends of the Police gruesome killing of Salawudeen is a slap on the face of the Zongo community
Listening to the comments of the interior minister on the floor of Parliament yesterday, August, 1st, 2023 in relation to the killing of Yussif Salawedeen of blessed memory in Asawase last month, it is obvious that the investigation the minister of interior spoke about on the floor of Parliament may not lead us anywhere if from this preliminary stage of the matter is been clouded with grave inconsistency and opacity.
We are forced to believe that the minister of interior has no better appreciation of the matter, hence he only stuck to the script presented to him since he had to talk about the matter as the minister designate, however, we are sure if the minister actually appreciates the ugly event that happened, he will know that his presentation in the first place does not reflect the real facts of the event. We are confident that after the series of good questions our member of Parliament, Hon. Muntaka Mubarak asked after his presentation might have inform the minister of the inconsistencies in the script he read on the floor. If the Police claim they released Salawudeen to go when they detected signs of sickness in him, the question we humbly asked is, since when did it become a norm by the Police to releasing suspects by mere detection of sickness?
Again, if the Police claim, according to the script the interior minister read on the floor that the multiple injuries the victim sustained which led to his sudden death are as a result of a wall the victim hit his body against in the cause of running, how come the autopsy report showed the cause of death to be as follows;
Splenic rupture, blood in abdominal organ, and blunt force trauma – injury of the body by forceful impact or physical attack? Is it logical for one to sustain all these injuries by mere hitting of once body against a wall? It is so sad that the vast majority of Ghanaians are perceived not to have confidence in our justice system, and such incidence are major contributing factors to that wide public perception. We’re calling on the interior minister and the IGP once again to take a second look at the matter, because what has been said about the case does not reflect the reality and the facts of the case, we can’t live in a country where we can’t have confidence in our justice system, so therefore, we call for an independent investigation into the matter, to at least establish the fact so that justice will be served for the perpetrators of the killing be punished by the law for the soul of our brother, yussif Salawudeen can finally rest in peace.
We the Concern Youth Of Asawase won’t rest until justice is served
Long live Ghana
