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The Attorney General’s Department has filed an application at an Accra High Court praying it to set aside Charles Antwi’s 10-year jail term handed to him by Justice Francis Obiri on July 28, 2015.

The circuit court passed the judgement after the 36-year-old confessed in an open court a plot to assassinate President John Mahama and his family at the Ridge Assemblies of God Church.

The state has described the sentence as “wrong” and is seeking for an order of re-trial and a comprehensive medical review of the suspect.

A notice for appeal deposed to the court by Chief State Attorney, Yvonne Atakora Obuobisha, stated that, “the judge should have observed and had reason to believe from the composure, demeanor and utterances of the accused person who was unrepresented that he was of an unsound mind and incapable of making a defence and thus the court should have caused him to be medically examined.”

The convict, Antwi, told the court that he purchased the gun he intended to use for his crime from a Burkinabe in the Brong Ahafo Region. The court, presided over by Justice Francis Obiri, ruled that the convict was sane and capable of carrying out the attack.


Charge

Charles Antwi was charged with possession of firearm without lawful authority contrary to section 11 of the arms and ammunition Act, (1972) NRCD9.

Verdict

The presiding Judge in sentencing Antwi said had the convict succeeded in killing the President, he could have plunged the country into a state of confusion.

He contended that though the accused was a first offender, people like him ought to be kept away from law-abiding citizens for a very long time.

Justice Obiri stated that the security apparatus around the President must appreciate the lapses in their arrangements and tighten the security around the First Citizen at all public functions.

Mr. Obiri ordered that the gun and the cartridges be destroyed by the investigative team under the supervision of the registrar of the court.

Facts

The brief facts presented to the court by DSP Abraham Annor were that the accused hailed from Dadiesoaba in the Brong Ahafo Region and that on the aforestated date, he was found in the premises of the said church fidgeting on the seat he was sitting.

He said a witness in the case who was in the church spotted Antwi and when a search was conducted, the said pistol and two rounds of ammunition were found on him and he was arrested.

According to DSP Annor, in the course of interrogation, Antwi admitted ownership of the gun, stating that he bought it from a Burkina Faso national in Nkoranza, also in the Brong-Ahafo Region to kill the president.