Court convicts Wisa for displaying penis on stage
An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced Eugene Ashie aka Wisa a hip-life artiste accused of displaying his manhood on stage during a performance to pay a fine of GH¢8,400.
Wisa in default would serve a 24 month jail term.
The sentence came after the Court Presided over by Mrs Abena Oppong Adjin-Doku, had found him guilty on the charge of gross indecency.
The Court noted that Wisa throughout the trial had not shown “a shadow of remorse,” and his actions affected public sensibility.
According to the Court it however took into consideration the fact that the convict was a public figure, adding “handing down a custodial sentence could ruin his career”.
Soon after the sentencing, defence counsel, Mr Jerry Avernogbor pleaded with the Court to give his client some days so he could come back and pay the fine.
According to Counsel, his client had only GH¢5,000 in Court and considering the fact that money was hard to come by, Wisa should be given some days to pay off the remaining amount.
The trial judge ruled that in that case, Wisa would have to be on fresh bail in the sum of GH¢10,000 with one surety to be justified.
Mr Avernogbor then indicated that the fresh bail given by the Court would only amount to incarceration and prayed that the Court should do away with the justification.
According to the trial judge, she was afraid Wisa may not turn up to pay the rest of the money because during the trial he jumped bail.
Wisa, of the Ekikimi fame, was arrested for allegedly exposing his penis while performing at the Accra International Conference Centre on December 24, 2015.
He has, however, denied a charge of gross indecent exposure and is on a GH¢8,000.00 bail with one surety.
On December 25, 2015, the Accra Regional Police was alerted over a nude video posted on the Internet from an unknown source, in which Wisa intentionally exposed his penis, while performing live on stage.
According to the Prosecutor, Detective Chief Inspector Judith B. Asante, said the Police contacted the managers of the Artiste to produce him at the Regional Police Headquarters for investigations, which they did.
The Prosecution said investigations into the matter disclosed that on December 24, Airtel Communications Company and Citi FM, an Accra-based radio station, organised an event dubbed: “December to Remember,” which included the accused as a guest artiste.
In the course of the show, the accused, while dancing with a female dancer identified as Monica Kumadeh, suddenly removed his penis out of his pair of jeans and began to caress the buttocks of the dancer.
Prosecution called three witnesses and tendered a forth prosecution witness statement to make a case against Wisa.
Wisa also called a witness to testify in the matter.
Summing, the Court noted that Wisa in the video tendered in evidence removed his “God given penis” which was black in colour on stage.
However testifying in court, Wisa produced an artificial penis which was fair in colour to Court.
The Court quizzed Wisa’s as to why he had to apologise through his song dubbed “I am sorry.”
“If the idea of displaying your penis was to make you popular why then do you want people to forget your performance?” the Court asked.
It noted that there were inconsistencies in his caution statement and the evidence he gave in court.
The Court rejected Defence Counsel’s submission that the said video tendered in court could have been edited as in the era of technology; animals could be turned into human beings.
It further debunked defence counsel assertions that the Police could have gone to the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) to interview people over his client’s conduct but fail to do so.
“The AICC was a public place and as such no one stays there. The people who patronised the Centre on the day of the incident had left the place before the matter was reported to the Police.
Source: GNA