BNI, gov’t in contempt for deporting SA ex-cops – Legal expert

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Government should be cited for contempt of court for deporting the three South African ex-police officers, who were arrested for allegedly engaging in activities that had national security implications, a legal expert has said.

According to Justice Abdullai, the deportation of the three had subverted the legal process that was currently before the law court.

“If you have a case in court and you do anything that undermines the process of the court, you can be cited for contempt,” he said.

The deported South Africans were granted bail last week by an Accra circuit court after they were arraigned by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), which conducted the arrest in the Central Region for training private security personnel of opposition leader, Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo.

Major Chris Hazis (rtd), 54, Warrant Officer Denver Dwayhe, 33, and Captain Mlungiseli Jokani, 45, were seen boarding a South African Airways flight bound for Johannesburg Tuesday morning at the Kotoka International Airport.

The Minister of Interior, Prosper Bani, had said in a statement that the activities of the three could compromise the results of the November 2016 general elections as the three allegedly held details of key employees of Superlock Technology Limited (STL), the company hired by the Electoral Commission (EC) to assist in the management of the biometric database.

Speaking on Onua FM’s Midday Newson Tuesday, lawyer Abdullai said though government may have decided to stop pursuing the case due to the international dimension of the case, it has, however, erred by deporting the SA ex-cops before officially filing the nolle prosequi (official abandonment of the case) at the court.

He said detaining the SA ex-cops even after they were granted bail by the court was also other form of government subverting the rule of law and exhibiting higher authority than the laws of the country.

He, therefore, urged government to follow due process of the law in dealing with issues that have national security implications and not act above the remits of the law as embedded in the constitution.

Source: Nii Okai Tetteh|Onua FM|3news.com|Ghana

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