September 16, 2009 The Inspector-General of Police
Ghana Police Service
Headquarters, Accra.
Dear Sir,
Unlawful Arrest & Detention Of Mr. James Kellim – PETITION FOR INVESTIGATION INTO THE CONDUCT OF ACP ASHLEY AND OFFICERS OF POLICE INTELLIGENCE AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS UNIT
We act for Mr. James Kellim, a citizen of the United States of America who is currently in Ghana and we hold his instructions to forward this petition against the conduct of ACP Ashley, head of the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Unit (PIPS) of the Ghana Police Service and other unidentified officers of the same unit. Our instructions are that our client was arrested in a hotel room in Accra by officers of PIPS on Tuesday September 15, 2009. We wish to state that our client had not and did not commit any offence warranting his arrest. We are instructed that our client had filed a complaint of stealing at the CID Headquarters against a Ghanaian lady named Patience Boateng involving approximately fifty thousand United States dollars (US$50,000.00). Our client filed his compliant on August 13, 2009. When the suspect was bailed, she petitioned PIPS that she had been detained for more than 48 hours by the Police officers. Strangely, the same ACP Ashley then attempted to halt the entire investigation of the substantive matter. It took a petition from the then counsel of our client and the intervention of both the legal department of the Ghana Police Service and the Director, CID, to ensure that the investigation was not truncated. Having failed in that effort, we find it extremely unusual that the same officer and men under his command could storm a hotel room and arrest our client on clearly trumped up charges which have no foundation in fact or in law.
We are also particularly concerned by the gross abuse of our client’s human rights by the said officer and his men who denied him access to his phones and to his counsel during his detention. We are dismayed that in pursuance of his personal objective of preventing the substantive case from proceeding, the said ACP Ashley managed to assemble journalists, both print and electronic into his office and paraded our client before them, causing severe embarrassment to his hard-won image and reputation. We note with regret that the actions of ACP Ashley has directly led to newspaper publications on the matter in the Daily Guide and Ghanaian Times newspapers and also a news item on the evening news of TV3 on September 15, 2009.
With greatest respect, we find the actions of the said ACP Ashley as wholly objectionable and a serious affront to the integrity of the Ghana Police Service. Indeed, we are dismayed that the very person who heads the unit detailed to help prevent and deal with the same incidents will engage in an unsanctioned operation for his personal ends. We are therefore raising the following issues for your kind consideration in your investigation of this matter:
1. Why was ACP Ashley in such a rush to get the story published by journalists?
2. Why was our client denied access to his lawyers by the said ACP Ashley?
3. Why were the ladies involved in the matter released as soon as our client was arrested?
4. Who was the complainant in the matter?
5. What links does ACP Ashley have to Madam Patience Boateng, the suspect in the substantive matter who cannot be traced by the Police?
6. What investigation did PIPS conduct to warrant the raid on our client?
7. Why is it that it was officers from PIPS who conducted the said raid?
8. Was ACP Ashley aware that the criminal matter involving Madam Patience Boateng was being processed for court on Friday September18, 2009?
9. What offence under the Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29) as amended, did our client commit?
We have been compelled to raise these issues and bring them to your attention because we are deeply concerned about the implications for the Ghana Police Service when its own internal integrity unit is able to act to frustrate other units of the service in a manner such as has happened to our client. We are also concerned about the potential damage to the country’s reputation from such ‘private ventures’ by Police Officers against foreigners who have cases against indigenes.
We therefore wish to petition you to investigate the conduct and role of ACP Ashley, head of PIPS and the officers of his unit who were involved in the effort to unlawfully arrest our client and caused his detention in Police cells on September 15, 2009. We wish to further plead that his previous conduct in the case of Mad. Patience Boateng be taken into consideration. Finally, we wish to state that ACP Ashley’s role in the Ghana Police Service is to act to prevent the exact issues he has orchestrated and that should not be allowed to continue as it will dent the image of the Ghana Police Service unduly.
We look forward to your favourable consideration of our humble petition.
Yours faithfully,
For 1stLaw
JOE ABOAGYE DEBRAH Esq.
Cc:
The Director CID, Headquarters Ghana Police Service Accra.
