By William Yaw Owusu
Friday, 08 September 2006
PRINCE Tibu-Darko, 49, owner of the Koreana Hotel and Komaney Forex Bureau in Tema who was arrested on August 9 on suspicion of dealing in narcotic drugs, has again been refused bail by the Accra circuit court. He is to return to court on September 14.
Tibu-Darko was first remanded on August 16, on a provisional charge of dealing in narcotic drugs.
In remanding him when he made his third appearance yesterday, the judge said although he considered the arguments raised by Tibu-Darko’s council, "the argument for bail is premature."
Assistant Superintendent of Police, George Abavelim, prosecuting, had told the court at the last adjourned date that the police were still investigating the matter and the accused could interfere with the process if he was granted bail.
Mr Gabriel Pwamang who represented Tibu-Darko however argued that his client was being kept based on suspicion and that the police had failed to provide the evidence of surveillance that they claimed to have mounted on his client to warrant his remand.
Later in an interview as to his next line of action, Mr Pwamang said "once the judge has ruled that our application is premature, we will only need some time for it to mature and we will come back."
The facts as presented by DSP Abavelim are that Tibu-Darko is a businessman who owns a fishing company in addition to the hotel located at Community 12.
The accused does other activities apart from the hotel business, he said and "this includes the distribution of narcotic drugs, particularly cocaine."
He told the packed court that the police mounted surveillance on the accused and he was arrested on August 9.
Immediately the case was called, some women sympathisers of Tibu-Darko, who were following proceeding from outside the court room were seen praying for God’s intervention for the court to grant the accused bail.
Others in the court room wept bitterly after he was refused bail.
No comments:
Post a Comment