Delta 8 discharge: Premature to pass judgement – Emile Short

Former Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Justice Emile Short, has called for calm in the wake of the discharge of the eight members of the dreaded group – Delta force- by a Kumasi Circuit Court Wednesday.

The news of the release of the eight who raided the court in Kumasi to free 13 of their members who were standing trial has angered the Minority in Parliament and many other Ghanaians.

Addressing a news conference Wednesday, the Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu alleged that the discontinuation of the case against the eight was politically motivated and a travesty of justice — the government however disagreed.

According to a statement issued by the Minister of Information Mustapha Hamid, the Attorney General Gloria Akuffo was not aware of the decision by the prosecutor to discontinue the case.

As a result, the Attorney General’s department “is investigating circumstances under which a principal State Attorney in Kumasi decided without recourse to advice from higher authority on a matter of high public interest of this nature to drop charges against persons arrested in connection with disturbances in a Kumasi Magistrate’s court in April this year,” said Mr. Hamid in a statement Wednesday.

He added “preliminary investigations suggest that the decision was taken without recourse even to the Director of Public Prosecution and may amount to a breach of internal procedures on matters of this nature.”

Commenting on the development Thursday on Morning Starr, Justice Short said even though the conduct of the eight was an assault on the “dignitary of the court” the judicial process has to be followed nonetheless.

“So I think we have to wait until the investigations are completed and the report is published and then a decision is taken. …It is important to point out that they were not acquitted and discharged.

“They were just discharged which means they can be re-arrested. Therefore I think at this stage it is premature to start passing judgement and we should wait for the report on the investigations which has been ordered by the attorney General’s office,” Justice short stated.