Kombian to appeal against death verdict

Johnson Kombian, farmer and businessman, who is to be hanged for killing two police officers says he is dissatisfied with the verdict of the seven- member jury and would therefore launch an appeal.

According to Kombian he did not get the justice he deserved hence “he is aggrieved and had instructed me to launch an appeal against his conviction and sentence,” Mr George Asamaney lawyer for Kombian said in an interview in Accra on Thursday.

According to counsel “the verdict was against the weight of evidence because public opinion was against him”.

He said: “Kombian thinks the conviction and sentence was too harsh, excessive and out of date.”

According to counsel, he would apply for proceedings and as soon as he secures it, he would file the appeal.

Mr Asamaney noted that his client felt that the state did not prove their case beyond reasonable doubt.

Counsel said, Kombian was of the view that that the motive for which he killed the Police was paramount adding: “There was no motive for committing the crime and he had nothing against the Police officers.”

Mr Asamaney noted that no proper investigations were done to unearth the real culprits and wondered why since his arrest, none of the so called accomplices had been apprehended.

“No efforts have been made by the Police to arrest other accomplices who are alleged to have committed the crime,” he said.

Counsel recounted that Kombian had been described in the media as a “notorious armed robber” hence getting witnesses to testify for him was difficult.

As part of the grounds of Appeal, counsel said there were so many inconsistencies in the case of the prosecution and that the jury was misdirected.

Johnson Kombian was on Wednesday sentenced to death by hanging by an Accra FastTrack high Court for killing two police officers in the Northern Region.

The deceased are Constable Prince Agyare and Constable Owusu Frimpong. A third policeman, Corporal Osei Bonsu, survived after sustaining gunshot wounds

Kombian was also sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on the charge of conspiracy to commit crime. Sentences were to run concurrently.

This was after a seven- member jury unanimously returned a verdict of guilty on two counts of murder and conspiracy to commit crime.