The trial of Christain Asem Dake, alias the ‘Limping Man’,
the prime suspect in the importation of the 77 parcels of cocaine in the
infamous MV Benjamin Vessel will finally commence this Friday June 1 at an
Accra Fast Track High Court where he has been slapped with five fresh charges.
The State prosecutor, Mrs Yvonne Obuobisa who announced this
in court yesterday said the state had completed all the necessary
investigations and was ready to commence prosecution.
She, however, told the court that the state would like to
make an application on Friday to take evidence or hear the case In camera.
Information gathered by The Finder indicates that the
witnesses who had agreed to give evidence in court would not want their faces
to be seen and had therefore requested to either disguise themselves or give
evidence in the judge’s chamber.
Asem Dake yesterday pleaded not guilty to five fresh charges
of conspiracy to transport narcotics without lawful authority, Importation of
narcotics without license from the Ministry of Health, possession of narcotic,
undertaking prohibited business in relation to narcotic and corruption of
public officer.
Mr George Heward-Mills, counsel for the accused person prayed
the court to grant his client bail and that the facts of the case were just
fabrications.
He said the state had continuously sought for adjournment
since his client was arrested at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital on February 2
and that the health of his client was at stake.
“My client has been kept in the Bureau of National
Investigations (BNI)
cells since his arrest and from what he tells me he is not being fed well; we
have made complaints about this very issue before when he was standing trial at
the Circuit Court. He says he is only given a third of what he is supposed to
eat,” he added.
Mr Heward-Mills
told the court that the act of the BNI officials was to put his clients through
a psychological trauma so he could make certain confessions.
He prayed the
court to remand the accused person in police custody where his family would be
allowed to feed him well and in order for him (Heward-Mills) to have access to
his client for further action and instructions.
He recounted to
the court the difficulties he had to go through in order to have access to the
accused person, adding that “all those standing trial in court are being kept
in prison or police custody except my client who is still being kept at the
BNI.”
But Mrs Obuobisa
told the court that the accused person was still in the custody of the BNI
because the arrest and investigated by officials of the BNI and not the police.
She added that
the issue about the health and the meals of his client had been dealt with and
that the accused person had two doctors at his disposal.
Justice Mustapha
Habib Logoh, the trial judge said after listening to the accounts and
complaints of the accused person’s counsel he would admit the accused person
into police custody.
He also refused
the bail application by Mr Heward-Mills and adjourned the case to June 1 for
commencement.
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