Mzbel Remanded In Police Custody

Hiplife star Nana Ekua Amoah, popularly known as Mzbel, would spend five more days in police custody following an order by an Accra Motor Court that she and two others be remanded for assaulting a police officer. The celebrated Ghanaian songstress, together with Maxwell Mensah, a driver, and Emmanuel Edem Nordzor, a student, were charged before the magistrate court presided over by Emmanuel Plange Brew on various motor traffic offences and assault. Mensah had four charges; namely unauthorized parking, causing road obstruction, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. Nordzor was charged with driving a motor vehicle without licence while Mzbel was to face two charges of obstructing a police officer from executing a lawful duty and assaulting a police officer. They all pleaded not guilty to the offence. Although their three lawyers had tried to secure bail for them, the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Seiwah Dora, insisted that they should be remanded because their action could have ended the life of the policeman. Mr. Addo Atuah, lead counsel for the accused persons, in seeking bail, stated that the facts as presented by the police was at variance with what actually happened. According to him, it was the policeman who rather unleashed all sorts of brutalities on the accused persons. This act of the police, he disclosed, had been recorded and it would be made available to the court later. He said Mzbel, as tinny and frail as she was, could not have assaulted the police officer as alleged.He informed the court that the accused persons who were gainfully employed, especially Mzbel, an international star, would offer substantial sureties if bail was granted. One of the lawyers had added that �the story has just been made up for an effect�. However, Chief Inspector Seiwah objected to the application for bail, indicating that the accused persons wanted to kill the policeman. She contended that the driver of the vehicle drove off while the policeman was dramatically lying on the bonnet of the vehicle and refused to stop despite shouts from eyewitnesses. �If not for the intervention of another person, the policeman would have been dead by now,� she stressed. The police officer had since been treated and discharged from the Police Hospital. The prosecutor also indicated that Mzbel would abscond if granted bail as a supposed international star. However, the lawyers insisted that an accused person could not be incarcerated on mere speculation that he or she would not be in court, pleading with the court to temper justice with mercy. Although the magistrate, Mr Plange Brew, admitted that the offences were bailable, he said, �The indiscipline by the youth these days is too much and they must be checked�, after which he remanded the accused persons. The facts, as narrated by the prosecutor, was that on Saturday at about 12.30pm, a police MTTU officer on duty at the Tudu traffic light in Accra realized there was heavy traffic on a section of the road which obstructed the free flow of vehicles.