Private legal practitioner and Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu, has described the five-year sentence handed to the man who vandalised vehicles at the precinct of parliament as an act of injustice.
The lawmaker argued that the convict should first have been examined medically to determine his mental state before he was arraigned before the court.
He noted that it was also wrong that the convict was sent to court without legal representation.
Kofi Asare, 29, was arrested and taken to court for wreaking havoc on vehicles parked at Ghana’s Parliament.
He was sentenced to five years in prison by the Accra Circuit Court. The court, presided over by Judge Emmanuel Afotey-Addo, described the act as a threat to public safety and a flagrant disregard for law and order.
He was charged with unlawful damage and breach of peace following his brazen attack on December 1, 2024.
Asare, who pleaded guilty to the charges, claimed that his actions were motivated by frustration with the government’s inability to combat youth unemployment.
Reacting to this, Mr. Sosu said the convict should have been examined medically and not be dragged to court where he pleaded guilty without the presence of a lawyer.
He believes no sane individual would walk to parliament and cause such havoc to the vehicles.
He has therefore accepted to take up the matter as a public interest case.
In a Facebook post, he said,’Such a person, when arrested, was first to have been medically examined to ascertain his mental state before being arraigned before court. A person who is not compos mentis cannot plead to an offence, much less plead guilty. This is more so when he did not have any lawyer in court.
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This matter is similar to what happened sometime in 2015 involving one Charles Antwi. How can someone in his right senses walk to parliament and decide to smash windows of cars because he claimed “God asked him to do so?”
Such a person when arrested was first to have been medically examined to ascertain his mental state before being arraigned before court.
A person who is not compos mentis can not plead to an offence much less to PLEAD GUILTY. This is more so when he did not have any lawyer in court.
I have decided to take up this matter as a public interest case because this is another failure of our justice system.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana