Minor In Police Cells For 9 months Without Trial

A minor, Francis Tawiah, has been in police custody for more than nine months for allegedly aiding in the murder of a farmer in the Eastern region. The 16-year-old is alleged to have conspired with his girlfriend Ruth Yaa Akumah, a 14-year-old pupil of the Agyeikrom Junior High School to poison her father for opposing their relationship. The Project Manager of Plan Ghana, Shedrack Frimpong, said the boy has been in custody due to the failure of the Attorney General�s Department to process the docket for trial. �What is happening is that after his arrest by the police in the Eastern region, because it�s a murder case, he�s still on remand but under normal circumstances, after a maximum of three to six months, if the case hasn�t been sent to the Juvenile Court, he has to be released,� Frimpong told Citi News. He said: �The docket is still with the AG�s department. The normal thing is that if cases are referred to the AG�s office, it can take ages and years.� Mr. Frimpong also said the country must enforce the laws to protect minors whose lives are being destroyed in prisons across Ghana. �You cannot keep a child in a police cell even though he�s in police custody. The normal thing that should be done is that the Constitution has to take him to the Juvenile Court, tell them about his charge and he�ll be remanded in a remand home,� he pointed out. �After investigations, the findings will be presented in the Juvenile Court and the boy sentenced to a correctional facility,� he added.