Accra (Greater Accra) 26 Nov.'98 A High Court in Accra will give judgment in a case in which five persons are charged with treason on January 19, next year.
The three-member panel, presided over by Mr Justice P.K. Owusu-Sekyere, gave the date after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mr J.C. Amonoo-Monney, completed his address. The other panel members are: Mr Justice R.K. Apaloo and Mrs Justice Ivy Ashong.
The accused persons are: Alexander Offei, Kwame Ofori-Appiah, Sylvester Addai-Dwomoh, John Kwadwo Owusu-Boakye and Emmanuel Osei Kofi.
They have pleaded not guilty and are in custody.
The accused, according to the prosecution, between June and September, 1994, in Accra, contacted some soldiers on guard duty at Ghana Broadcasting Corporation(GBC) to help them recruit soldiers and procure grenades and mowags to stage a coup to topple the NDC government.
The soldiers reported the matter to the authorities, who advised them to feign interest and co-operate with the accused persons.
In their defence, the accused persons, all of whom reside in London, in the United Kingdom, except Osei Kofi, who is a driver in Ghana, claimed that the charges preferred against them is a frame-up and that all the pieces of evidence by the prosecution witnesses were a ploy.
Summing up, Mr Amonoo-Monney said there is abundant evidence on record that the accused at various times met with the soldiers and gave them money to procure grenades.
The DPP noted that the prosecution called 10 witnesses and the defence called only one at the instance of Owusu-Boakye in the trial, which began in October, last year.
The prosecutor said exhibits like red bands, diaries and notebooks in which some notes were recorded, as well as grenades, which the accused persons gave money for, were all "cogent evidence" incriminating them.
The DPP therefore urged the court to find them guilty of the crime, saying the prosecution has proved the charges "beyond every reasonable doubt"
Mr Nyamekye Baah is attorney for Offei, Mr S.M. Asante appears for Ofori-Appiah, while Mr Freeman Osei Anto-Bonsu is for Addai- Dwomoh. Mr Atta Akyea and Mr J.O Amui are counsel for Owusu- Boakye and Osei Kofi.
