Controversy over conditions of detention of ‘StopGalamseyNow’ protesters in Ghana

Oliver Mawuse Barker Vormawor, the organiser of the ‘StopGalamseyNow’ demonstration, and 11 other demonstrators have been remanded in custody until 8 October. The total number of protesters remanded in custody now stands at 52, prompting a public outcry. A large police presence filled the Accra Magistrates’ Court as the defendants, all handcuffed, appeared.

Defendant Barker Vormawor, still recovering after collapsing in police custody earlier this week, was escorted by officers from the police hospital directly to the courtroom. According to defence lawyers, the protesters were subjected to inhumane treatment, including being denied food, water and basic hygiene during their initial detention.

The court judge, Kwabena Obiri Yeboah, decided to keep the group in detention despite their application for bail, with a hearing date set for 8 October.

‘Why do you think the Supreme Court took the decision to ban bail? It’s because of this same type of abuse. I’m telling you that what I witnessed in court did not require pre-trial detention’, said the private lawyer Martin Kpebu.

Public opinion strongly condemned the decision to remand a total of 52 demonstrators in custody.

Human rights lawyer Francis Xavier Sosu, meanwhile, is preparing to take legal action against the Ghanaian police and the state, both in Ghana and before the ECOWAS Court.

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‘If bodies of water are destroyed, we are all destroyed. That’s why, even as a lawyer, I have assembled my entire legal team. We are acting for and on behalf of all those affected by this case, and we are going to make sure that we continue until we seek justice for every individual’, declared Mr Sosu.

Some psychologists also expressed concern about the psychological consequences of arrest and detention.

The defence lawyers have expressed their intention and willingness to appeal the Circuit Court’s decision to the High Court.