Lawyer wants AG to re-open Midland assault case against police officer

A human rights lawyer, Francis-Xavier Sosu, wants the Attorney General’s (AG) Department to take up the case in which a police officer was captured on video assaulting a woman at the Midland Savings and Loans Company.

Lance Corporal Frederick Amanor Godzi was interdicted in the wake of the July 19, 2018 brutality on Ms Patience Osafo, which sparked public outrage.

Criminal charges were leveled against him before a circuit court, but he was later dGischarged for ‘want of prosecution’.

Police prosecutors were said to have claimed the victim, was not interested in the assault case against the accused, Amanor Godzi, aka Skalla, but her lawyer, Samson Lardy Ayenini, has since rejected the prosecutors claim.

The prosecutors were said to have claimed Ms Osafo had lost interest in the trial of the policeman and three other officials of Midland. She was said to have failed to appear in court on multiple times leading to the request for Skalla’s discharge.

However, her lawyer Samson Lardi Anyenini said the claim by the Police that his client was no more interested in the case is “palpable falsehood,” and explained that for the about five months that the case was in court, police prosecutors and investigators kept Ms. Osafo in the dark on what was happening.

L/cpl was on the back of his discharge reinstated by the Police Administration but currently said to be facing internal police administrative trial for his conduct.

Director of Public Affairs, ACP David Oklu, on Saturday said on TV3 news analysis programme, Key Points, that Godzi was recalled because “You can interdict an officer up to 90 days”.

He explained that though they needed to have taken Godzi through internal administrative trial while on interdiction, they could not do so because he was already going through court trial at the time so “we needed to wait…”

Commenting on the case on the programme, Mr Sosu called for AG’s intervention to ensure that justice is served.

“On this account, I think we need to rope in the Attorney General’s Office, I do not think it is entirely right to accept the excuse that they simply cannot prosecute. The Attorney General should be telling us something, because we are in this together. The justice system is from the police to the court, Attorney General plays a key role.

“Criminal cases do not have expiry date, so I will call on the Attorney General’s department to re-open that docket,” Mr Sosu stressed.

He indicated that ensuring the case is seen to its logical conclusion will further boost public confidence in the judicial system and instill discipline amongst police personnel in the country.

Background

In July 2018, a video showing Skalla assaulting Ms Osafo at the Shiashie branch of the Midland Savings and Loan Company went viral on social and traditional media platforms.

Ms Osafo who was at the time holding her grandchild, had gone to the company to retrieve her savings, but after waiting for hours, she was said to have been ordered to leave because it was time for the company to close.

Having unsuccessfully failed countless times to get her money, she refused to leave the banking hall, causing Skalla to attempt to forcibly eject her and in the process, physically assaulted the woman while some staff looked on.