Because one of his bail conditions has yet to be fully completed, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, convenor of the #FixTheCountry movement who has been charged with treason crime, had to spend another night in police custody.
On Wednesday morning (March 16, 2022), the Tema High Court, chaired over by Justice Daniel Mensah, granted the accused GH2 million bail with two sureties.
The court further ordered that one of the sureties deposit with the court his or her paperwork covering a landed property.
The applicant’s passport was to remain with the police, and Barker-Vormawor was to report to the case investigator once a week at the police station where the case originated.
He was still in police custody as of 7 p.m. Wednesday because the bail requirements had not been fully fulfilled.
According to a police statement released Wednesday evening, the accused was taken to the court to execute his bail on the court’s directions.
The court’s Registrar, Mr Sebastian A. Agbo, told the police that the document covering the landed property submitted to the court by one of the sureties had been sent to the Greater Accra Regional Lands Commission for verification and that the court was still waiting for a response from the Lands Commission.
The Registrar told the cops that he wouldn’t be able to execute the bail until he heard back from the Lands Commission.
As a result, the police were forced to return the accused to police custody while they awaited the High Court Registrar’s decision.
Justice Daniel Mensah, the presiding judge, stated he will promote action but that a coup d’etat is not an option in a democracy while granting bail.
As a result, he has counselled Barker-Vormawor not to consider a coup d’etat, regardless of how he feels about a regime.
The judge said: “No matter how we feel about a regime, a coup isn’t an option. I’ll encourage activism but know the extent”
The Attorney-General had filed an affidavit opposing Barker-bail Vormawor’s application, claiming that the accused was a flight risk with no fixed address in Ghana.
The court, on the other hand, ruled it could not accept the Attorney-argument. General’s
The court has also ordered Barker-Vormawor to report to the police once a week while the case is being investigated.
The judge also ordered that his passport be kept on hold by the police.
The High Court appeal for release came after the Ashaiman District Court, where he was charged on a felony charge of treason, refused to give him bail.
If a person is charged with a felony of treason, a district court cannot issue bail unless a higher court orders it.
Barker-Vormawor has been in police detention since his arrest at the Kotoka International Airport on February 11, 2022. (KIA).
When he was originally arraigned in the Ashaiman District Court on the allegation of treason felony on February 14, 2022, he was detained in police custody.
