Accra, Jan. 11, – An Accra
Central District court has committed the 14 accused persons allegedly involved
in the murder of Major Maxwell Mahama to stand
trial at the High Court.
The court presided over by
Ebenezer Kwaku Ansah said substantial evidence has been adduced against them
for the court to commit them to stand trial at the High Court.
They would all reappear at the
High Court on February 15, 2018 for trial to commence.
Before the court made its
pronouncement, all the accused were asked if they had something to say but they
all said they have nothing to say, regarding the outcome of the investigations
and the exhibits presented to the court.
Mrs Evelyn Keelson, a Chief State
Attorney, told the court during the committal hearing that the State intends to
call 15 witnesses to testify in the case, while relying on 52 exhibits
including guns, sticks, metal bars, cement blocks, stones, video recordings and
pictures of the crime scene among others.
The State had also serve all the
accused and their lawyers with the bill of indictment and summary of evidence.
Mrs Keelson said, it was on these
documents filed and served on December 15, 2017, that the State would rely on
to commence the trial.
At the last adjourned date the
Court discharged eight out of the 22 people allegedly involved in the murder of
case.
The eight, Vivian Asahene,
Ebenezer Appiah, Solomon Sackey, Kwame Adjei, Yaw Annie, Solomon Kojo Fordjour,
Philip Badu and Anthony Amoah were set free following an application by the
state to that effect.
Mrs Keelson informed the court
that there was no evidence to prosecute the eight.
She, however, said the Attorney-
General’s (A-G) Department had served the bill of indictment on the other 14
and was ready to start the committal proceedings, a prelude to the trial at the
High Court.
Counsel for the accused persons,
Mr Bernard Shaw, however, told the court about his intention to seek for
compensation for the eight who were discharged.
According to him, though they had
been set free they had been traumatised since their arrest in May, 2017.
Major Mahama, an Officer of the
5th Infantry Battalion at the Burma Camp was on duty at Dankyira-Obuasi, when
on May 29, he was lynched by some residents, who allegedly mistook him for an
armed robber because he had a pistol in his back pocket.
The mob ignored his consistent
plea that he was an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces.
GNA
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