<<Print>>A Enquirer newspaper reporter, Felix Nyaaba, has brought a five million Ghana cedis suit against the state at the Human Rights Court in Accra. He is praying the court to order the state to pay him the amount for violating his constitutionally guaranteed human rights.
Felix Nyaaba was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced for indecent sexual assault involving the five-year-old daughter of his neighbor. He successfully appealed his conviction and was released from jail after serving four months of his three-year jail term. The Bolga native insists his conviction and sentence was without basis because the facts and evidence adduced in court did not warrant a conviction.
In a writ filed this week, the journalist maintains that “throughout the trial, there was no single evidence that positively established that I forcibly made any sexual, bodily contact with the victim nor sexually violated the body of the victim.” “The trial judge sought to rely on circumstantial evidence for her conviction and yet evidence of [the doctor] which was to establish the facts in issue as to the victim’s condition gave multiple explanation and even concluded that it was According to the writ, “the Prosecution could not discharge the high burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt placed on them by law as the circumstantial evidence relied on did not lead to one and only one irresistible conclusion and there were several patent and latent doubts in the evidence adduced by prosecution which by law should have inured to the benefit of the accused person.” In his view, “the entire conviction and sentencing was wrongful in law and has occasioned a real miscarriage of justice to me.” “My arrest and detention was a reprehensible violation of my rights to liberty not only under the 1992 Constitution but also under the various human right charters to which Ghana is a signatory.”
He listed various forms inconveniences and losses he suffered because of his conviction: Loss of human dignity and social participation; Loss of love and bonding with my only child who was six months old when i was wrongfully convicted and sentenced; Loss of opportunity to complete my degree program at the GIJ as a final year student; Difficulties in integrating in society as l have become a subject of mockery; societal rejection and stigmatization as a perceived ex-convict; Social and psychological trauma after release from unlawful custody.” To compensate for these losses, Felix Nyaaba wants the state to pay him five million cedis as well as costs and legal fees.