The Ghana Police Service has denied forcing or coercing persons arrested during Democracy Hub’s protest to re-enact the protest at the 37 Intersection.
There are reports that some of the arrested persons were forced and coerced to the intersection for the reconstruction of events that took place on Sunday, September 22.
A statement from the police said the reconstruction of crime scenes is a standard investigative process across the world and that the participants did so voluntarily.
The police also denied that it used officers who were not known and had not had any engagement with the accused persons prior to the reconstruction, stating that the “police detectives who conducted the crime-scene reconstruction are part of the officers who have been working on the investigation since the inception of this case.”
Members of the Democracy Hub group organised a three-day protest from Saturday, September 21 to Monday, September 23 to demand a ban on illegal mining.
Over 50 of the protesters were arrested and are currently on remand, with 14 of them granted bail as of today, October 7.
Below is the full statement by the Police.
POLICE REFUTE CLAIMS OF FORCING ACCUSED PERSONS TO RE-ENACT PROTEST AT 37 INTERSECTION
1. The Ghana Police Service has taken notice of a statement allegedly issued by the lawyers of the accused persons standing trial for their conduct during the democracy hub demonstration, claiming that the Police forced their clients to re-enact the protest at the 37 Intersection.
2. We wish to state that this is untrue and the facts are as follows:
a. Crime scene reconstruction, as part of an investigation, is a standard practice used by law enforcement agencies worldwide and is in full compliance with our established procedures. The Ghana Police Service has been using this practice since time immemorial.
b. The Police detectives who conducted the crime-scene reconstruction are part of the officers who have been working on the investigation since the inception of this case. The claims that they are not known to the accused persons are, therefore, not true.
c. In accordance with standard procedures, the accused persons were informed of their right to have legal representation during the crime scene reconstruction process. Some of the accused persons opted to take part in the crime scene reconstruction process without their lawyers’ presence. Other accused persons, however, insisted on their right to their lawyers and the reconstruction process for these persons is yet to be done. It is, therefore, untrue, that the accused persons were coerced or threatened with harm, to take part in the crime-scene reconstruction.
3. As the public may recall, several attempts have been made since this incident, to feed the public with falsehood, including the arrest of a 12-year-old child and a pregnant woman, all in the bid to create disaffection towards the Police. We see this one, as one of such attempts, and we urge the public to disregard it.
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