The Ghana Police Service has rejected claims that individuals arrested during the Democracy Hub protest were coerced into re-enacting the demonstration at the 37 Intersection.
Reports have emerged alleging that some detainees were compelled to return to the intersection to reconstruct events from Sunday, September 22. In response, the police clarified that crime scene reconstructions are standard procedures in investigations worldwide and emphasized that all participants acted voluntarily.
Additionally, the police stated that the officers involved in the reconstruction were familiar to the accused, having been part of the investigation from the start. They denied allegations of using unfamiliar officers during this process.
The Democracy Hub group conducted a three-day protest from September 21 to September 23, advocating for a ban on illegal mining. Currently, over 50 of the protesters are on remand, while 14 have been granted bail as of October 7.
Below is the full statement by the Police.
POLICE REFUTE CLAIMS OF FORCING ACCUSED PERSONS TO RE-ENACT PROTEST AT 37 INTERSECTION
- The Ghana Police Service has taken notice of a statement allegedly issued by the lawyers of the accused persons standing trial for their conduct during the democracy hub demonstration, claiming that the Police forced their clients to re-enact the protest at the 37 Intersection.
- We wish to state that this is untrue and the facts are as follows:
a. Crime scene reconstruction, as part of an investigation, is a standard practice used by law enforcement agencies worldwide and is in full compliance with our established procedures. The Ghana Police Service has been using this practice since time immemorial.
b. The Police detectives who conducted the crime-scene reconstruction are part of the officers who have been working on the investigation since the inception of this case. The claims that they are not known to the accused persons are, therefore, not true.
c. In accordance with standard procedures, the accused persons were informed of their right to have legal representation during the crime scene reconstruction process. Some of the accused persons opted to take part in the crime scene reconstruction process without their lawyers’ presence. Other accused persons, however, insisted on their right to their lawyers and the reconstruction process for these persons is yet to be done. It is, therefore, untrue, that the accused persons were coerced or threatened with harm, to take part in the crime-scene reconstruction.
- As the public may recall, several attempts have been made since this incident, to feed the public with falsehood, including the arrest of a 12-year-old child and a pregnant woman, all in the bid to create disaffection towards the Police. We see this one, as one of such attempts, and we urge the public to disregard it.