Court adjourns Mahama murder case  

An Accra Central District court hearing the case of the murder of Major Maxwell Mahama in Denkyira Obuasi in the Central Region, has commended the prosecution for acting expeditiously to prosecute the case.
   
Presiding Magistrate, Mr Ebenezer Kwaku Ansah said the prosecution for once have dealt with the matter speedily and that personally he was happy about the turnout of events so far since the matter was brought before him.
    
“I am very happy at your pace and I urge you to deal with other matters that do not have State interest the same way you are doing with this.”
     
Mr Ansah made the remarks on Wednesday when the 19 suspects being held in for the murder appeared before the court.
    
Earlier, when the case was called, the prosecution being led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) George Amega prayed the court for a short adjournment, saying they have travelled very far with their investigations.
    
He told the court that the accused persons for now are being detained in police custody at different locations, but for security reasons they would want the court to remand them into prison custody, where they would be much safer.
    
He said the duplicate docket was ready for transmission to the Attorney General’s Office, while the rest of the accused persons at large are being sort for and would be in arms of the law soon.
    
Counsel for six of the accused persons told the court they had no objections to the prosecutions plea, but pray that the trial would start soon, since there are human right issues that would be coming up during the course of the trial.
    
He said “our case is that this issue is a serious matter for our clients, their families and the nation as a whole, and the law states that you cannot hold someone for too long without proving his guilt of otherwise, so a delay in starting a trial would create problems.”
    
He noted that they were mindful of the possible application for bail for their clients, but they would hold on with that, believing that they are much safer in the hands with the police.
    
Following this, the court remanded the suspects into prison custody for their own safety and to lessen the burden of them being transported from various locations to court.
    
The case was adjourned to August 3, 2017.
    
At the last adjourned date, the court discharged 13 of the 32 suspects initially allegedly charged with the murder per the prayer of the prosecution.
    
The prosecution asked that the court to discharge all accused persons, because further investigations have led them to charge 19 out of the 32.
   
He said some of them would be used by the prosecution as witnesses.

Source: GNA