Remand prisoners gain freedom

Thirteen remand prisoners at the Koforidua Prisons were freed by the special court that sat in the prisons under the Justice for All Project.

Fifteen of the prisoners were granted bail, remand imposed on 13 other prisoners was upheld by the court and three were convicted by the courts.

The three special courts were headed by Mr Justice Constant Hometowu, an Appeal Court Judge, Mr Justice Abdallah Iddrisu and Justice Clemence Honyenuga both High Court judges.

Among the prisoners freed included a case where a young man who was accused of stealing a chicken had been on remand for two years while another who stole snails also had been on remand for six months.

During the hearing the remand prisoners were offered free legal representation by Mr Isaac Aidoo and Ms Juliet Dabe Agboh, both private legal practitioners and Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Badu, a lecturer at the GIMPA Law School.

This year, the Access to Justice Project had provided the opportunity for cases of 389 remand prisoners in six prisons in the country to be reviewed.

The prisons where the project had organized the special courts include, Winneba, Ankafu, Tarkwa, Sekondi, Kumasi and Koforidua prisons.