The lady at the centre of the controversial mass rape reports, Amina Mohammed has finally been charged with publishing false information intended to cause fear and alarm under Sections 208 of the Criminal Code.
Her lawyer, Prof. Ken Attafuah confirmed that to Joy News just before entering the court to apply for bail for her. Amina has been held by the police without charge or bail for close to 70 hours in contravention of the constitution which requires that persons arrested, restricted or detained must, within 48 hours, be granted bail or produced before a court.
Amina Mohammed was picked by the police on Saturday to assist in investigations after she told journalists that passengers on board a Tamale-bound bus were forced by armed robbers to rape each other. The story has since assumed interminably controversial proportions with the police and persons who claimed to be co-passengers of Amina denying the story.
Prof Ken Attafuah told Joy News he was not at the moment concerned about whether Amina’s narration of the incident was accurate or not. His concern, he noted, was the flagrant violation of the fundamental human rights and liberties of the lady. He said a bail condition set by the police Monday was not only too difficult to meet but also unknown to the country’s laws.
The police had said they will only accept a close relative – and later modified it to say someone who knows her very well – to post a bail bond for Amina. But “This is an exceptional condition unknown to our law which the police have imposed on Amina… “It is not a requirement of the law that a person must be a relative or be known to a suspect for a long time,” he told Joy News Monday.
Human rights activist, Nana Oye Lithur agreed. She said police’s demand for a relative to post bail for Amina was “foreign to our law.” If found guilty, Amina could be sentenced to a fine or minor jail term because the offence with which she has been charged is a misdemeanor.
Source: myjoyonline.com
