The NPP legal team defending the ex-South African cops in court has challenged what the prosecution say was false declaration given by the accused persons at the Ghana High Commission in South Africa.
“I would be extremely surprised if this matter went to trial. The facts of the case do not support the charges given,” Nana Asante Bedietuo told Accra-based Citi FM.
Nana Asante Bedietuo, a member of the legal team said claims of the three providing false declaration do not hold, adding that the basis of their information given at the Commission is reasonable considering the fact that the three were indeed in the country to conduct business, specifically to offer consultancy services in the area of security.
He said they [accused] being engaged in training for VIP protection and crowd control should not be taken within the context that the law prohibits as they had been cited and charged for.
The three, Major Ahmed Shaik Hazis (rtd), 54; Warrant Officer Denver Dwayhe, 33, and Captain Mlungiseli Jokani, 45 have been charged with conspiracy to commit crime and unlawful training.
According to him, the fact that someone is engaged in security consultancy does not undermine the national security of the country, insisting that the three were being charged wrongly on all grounds.
The legal team has accused the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) of infringing on the rights of their clients, who were arrested in the Central Region for allegedly training the security team of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo. It has threatened to cite the BNI officials for contempt of court for disregarding the court orders.
An Accra Circuit Court ruled that the three South Africans be granted bail to the tune of GHc 20,000, each with one surety, but they were denied such freedoms sanctioned by the courts when the two BNI officials whisked them away Thursday with no better explanations.
