6 granted GH¢600,000 bail for allegedly assaulting JoyNews journalists
The Bekwai Circuit Court has granted GH¢600, 000 bail to six persons accused of assaulting of JoyNews journalists, investigating illegal mining activities at Manso Asumenya in the Ashanti Region.
Felix Amankwah, Akwasi Frimpong, Frederick Afful, Josuah Ofori, Mumumi Musah and Daniel Appiah, all employees of Edelmetallum Resources Limited, aged between 23 and 52 years, are expected to provide one surety each.
They are accused of abducting Erastus Asare Donkor, Majid Alidu, Edward Arkoh, and Nicholas Suantah, all JoyNews journalists, and taking them to an undisclosed location, subjecting them to beatings,
and later abandoning them.
Five other suspects still remain at large. The prosecution, led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (A SP) Llyod Baidoo, noted that Prosecution said the JoyNews journalists are the complainants.
He said accused were charged with five counts of assault, conspiracy to commit crime and stealing, and they pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Their counsel, Elvis Ofori Asante, pleaded with the court to admit the accused to bail, arguing they have been of good behaviour after police inquiry bail.
The prosecutor did not object to the plea for bail.
The presiding judge, Justice Isaac Appiatu, therefore, granted bail to accused, and asked them to present themselves to the Manso Adubia police every Monday before the next court hearing.
On October 20, 2024, at about 11:30 am, the complainants visited the Manso Asumenya area to investigate farmland destruction and water pollution caused by illegal miners of Edelmetallum Resources Limited.
While the four crew members were undertaking their journalistic investigation at the site, the accused assaulted and subjected them to torture and inhuman treatment.
The accused also unlawfully imprisoned the complainants in their own vehicle by placing two heavily built men in their vehicle before accosting them to a remote forest near Asanko Gold mines at Manso Nkran.
Upon the complainants’ refusal to delete their video coverage of the effects of mining activities of the said company, the accused in turns punched and slapped the complainants.
This resulted in the swollen right eyes of the team leader, Donkor, and drone pilot, Majid Alidu, while the two other crew members suffered swollen faces and marks of assault on their bodies.
The accused seized the complainants’ mobile tablets, drone and Samsung SD 128GB cards, valued at about GH¢500.00.
However, the mobile tablets and the drone were returned to the complainants without the Samsung SD 128GB card of their footages.
The accused also stole a black pack bag containing; a Lenovo 12 Pro tablet, drone bag with five drone batteries, power bank, J.B.L Headset, Ghana Civil Aviation License and other personal effects valued about GH¢35,000 from complainants vehicle before abandoning them in the forest.
The complainants reported the case to Police at Manso Adubia, and the assailants were arrested.
The case was adjourned to Friday, December 13, 2024.
—myjoyonline
