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Fomer Ghana international, John Paintsil, has opened up on his experience in the cell of the East Legon police station in Accra, where he was locked up on Tuesday after reportedly punching a police officer.

Paintsil, who reportedly hit the district commander of the station, DSP Emmanuel Basintale, after flaring up during an interrogation, has been charged with “stealing, causing harm, assault and offensive conduct on a police officer” and was expected to appear in court on Thursday.

In an interview with myjoyonline.com after he secured bail on Wednesday night, Paintsil said spending a night in police cell was a tough experience for him, adding that he blacked out at some point due to unbearable heat. The former Black Stars defender said the inmates temporarily forgot their troubles and expressed their admiration for him. Paintsil, who played in two World Cup competitions for Ghana, said an inmate even gave out his diary for an autograph, and he obliged.

He said some of the inmates also simulated football commentary apparently to cheer him up while in the cell.

Denial

Paintsil denied stealing his wife’s car – the allegation that caused him to report to the police in the first place – stressing that his wife, who reported him, forged his signature and effected a change of ownership of the car – an Infiniti SUV – into her name.

The footballer said he was really disturbed by developments of recent days, adding that he would hold a press conference later to state his side of the story. “I want people to know the truth. A lot of falsehood is being peddled around about me and I need to clear my name,” he said.

Some former and current Black Stars players, including Samuel Osei Kufuour, Emmanuel Agyeman Badu and Lee Addy, are said to have converged on the police station to solidarise with Paintsil. This is not the first time Paintsil has fallen foul of the law. He was held in police custody in 2013 for allegedly assaulting his wife and beating a neighbour who tried intervene in the matter.