Oliver Barker vs AG: The conflicting arguments over #FixTheCountry activists bail application

The application for bail by a convener of the #FixTheCountry movement, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, in a case he is facing in court over some comments he made in connection to a coup d’état seems to have taken on a new twist but with many conflicting angles.

On one hand, the outspoken #FixTheCountry convener, who has been in police custody since Friday, February 11, 2022, is seeking the blessing of the High Court to be able to go on bail, while on the other, the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, is praying the court to deny him the privilege.

In his arguments made to the court through his lawyers, Oliver barker-Vormawor is seeking bail due to his ill health, but not even that has been enough grounds for the AG to lower its defence against it.

In the first place, there have been allegations by the AG that Oliver has failed to cooperate with the police in the investigations throughout his arrest, his detention, and during interrogations.

And by the way, the accused is facing the charge of treason felony.

According to documents filed in opposition to the bail, on behalf of the Attorney General, it spells out challenges investigators have faced so far with the accused.

It stated that the youth activist has refused to obey a court order requiring that he grants the police access to his mobile phone, as well as a search warrant that was granted for police investigators to visit his residence hitting a wall.

This, the documents said, is because the #FixTheCountry convener has failed to show the police exactly where he resides in Ghana.

“That having regard to the nature of the offence and the punishment which conviction will entail, the applicant, a person with no fixed place of abode in Ghana is not likely to appear to stand trial if granted bail,” the AG argued.

Also, the AG claimed that the accused seems to have more than a wife as two separate women had claimed to be his wife.

“That following his arrest, applicant directed the police officers to speak to a lady in the United Kingdom that the applicant claimed was his wife, which allegation eventually turned out to be false. Subsequently, another woman showed up at the Ashaiman Police Station claiming to be the applicant’s wife,” the AG’s document added.

But Oliver Barker-Vormawor insists the claims are inaccurate.

In his application for bail that was to be heard on Thursday, March 10, 2022, but which was adjourned after the AG filed documents against it, he said the claims cannot be true, reports myjoyonline.com.

Offering arguments against the claims from the AG’s office, the youth activist said that when he was presented with the search warrant, he obliged.

He added that he led the police to conduct thorough searches at his home and all the other places that were named in the warrant.

On the subject of his mobile phone, Oliver Barker-Vormawor explained that on receiving the warrant, his lawyers wrote to the Inspector General of Police asking for the necessary arrangements to be put in place for the search, as stipulated in the warrant document.

While at that, however, he has since filed a case challenging the validity of the said search warrant, even as his mobile phone remains in police custody.

He added that he gave assurances to the police that he will show up to stand trial in the instance that he is granted bail.

“That I will make myself readily available to go through the present criminal proceedings and as I have done and continue to fully cooperate with any investigations which this criminal process may entail,” he argued.

The case will be re-called in court on Monday, March 14, 2022.