Four persons on remand at the Sekondi Central Prisons in the Western Region have been set free under the “Justice For All Programme” (JFAP), an initiative meant to decongest the country’s prisons.
The four inmates were part of the 20 hearing applications received.
One of them was cautioned, discharged and bonded while another one was also discharged and bonded.
The four who were visibly elated broke into tears and thanked the court that was constituted to hear the case and the lawyers who defended them.
One specialized High Court was set up yesterday at the prison to hear the cases of some of the accused persons on remand.
Eleven of the remanded prisoners were granted bail while the remand imposed on four other prisoners were upheld by the court.
Two of the remand prisoners were convicted by the courts. The prisoners were offered free legal representation during the hearing of the cases.
Justice Honyenuga was happy that the ‘Justice for All’ project was yielding positive results.
He noted that the number of remand prisoners at the Sekondi prisons had reduced drastically as compared to that of last year when the programme was taken to Sekondi.
He also indicated that remand population at the country’s prisons had decreased from 30.6 per cent in 2007 to 12 per cent as at December 26, 2017.
He, however, bemoaned the rising number of rape and defilement cases in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis.
This was because about 70 per cent of the cases that were heard at the special constituted High Court at the Sekondi prisons yesterday, were rape and defilement cases.
He, therefore, appealed to the authorities concerned to intensify education on the matter to help reduce the number of the cases and give the metropolis a good image.
Justice Honyenuga debunked the assertion that the project was being used to free hardened criminals onto the streets.
He explained that, the project would help resolve the challenges that arise in efforts to control crime and the upholding of the right of accused persons.
He said, in crime control, it was important that due process was followed to avoid abuse of the rights of the accused person.
The Justice for All Project is being executed under the auspices of the Access to Justice for Remand Prisoners Project.
The Access to Justice Project seeks to alleviate overcrowding at the prisons by setting up special courts to adjudicate on remand prisoners’ cases.
It was in collaboration with the Judicial Service, Attorney General’s Department, Ghana Police Service and Ghana Prisons Service.
Source: Daily Guide
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It is good to decongest our prisons to accommodate ndc hardened kriminals. They are crying now but were happy, arrogant, insulting when they were ste*ling with impunity. They thought Ghana belonged to them and nobody could do foko to them they are now crying they are witches who are being hunted , to woboase ooooo oy3fu eee, ne3 ob3bo wo mae wose obiaa ntumi wo oooo! Nea ob3bo wo b3ba dabi! Ndc Ana asase yi da ho gyan aa Eni wura, na nemu ne3ma mo'asesa abo mobo yi, owura no b3ba, ob3bo ab3 busaa aaa, owura no b3ba and tell us it's witch hunting. When Ghanaians were warning you they would vote you out for accountability to be done, ndc sent out their babies with sharp and fork teeth to insult, when ndc was voted out they dared this government to arrest them if they are thi*ves ,when in actual sense evidence were being gathered, ndc said NPP are liars and they lied to power ,now NPP have evidence you were thi*ves and have sent you to court and ndc are crying witch hunting,if you are not witches who will hunt you?are you the only people in Ghana? or are you the only people in the ndc so why John mahama appointees but not Ibn Chambas, not Mumuni, why not Kwesi Botchway, why not Totobi Kwakye, why not Christine Amoakoh Nuamah, why not Nana Ato Dadzie but these people you get what you paid for. John mahama was boasting I'm the president and nobody can challenge me only former presidents so now, why have he hired buses to convey fo*ls to show solidarity for ndc thi*ves. Man pass man and Power belongs to who has the power. Why can't John mahama and his toad chief of staff keep quiet and allow the laws to work if they did good work? Why are they rushing and do they think, this their actions will yield them good results when they stole from the state. Ndc are jokers, Ghanaians are happy with this event because they voted for this to happen. Whether ndc cry or weep ,we Ghanaians are happy and comfortable that after all those bad guys are going to be prosecuted and our monies collected. Lordina mahama must get ready , her paddy in business is now facing Ghanaians!