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Issah Musah, the third man suspected to have purchased the acid used to kill Adams Mahama, the Upper East Regional chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was yesterday arraigned before an Accra Central Magistrate Court.
The accused, according to the prosecutor, Supt Francis Baah, on May 19, 2015 went round looking for acid to buy for the operation. He allegedly gave the substance to the other two suspects who in turn poured the acid on Adams Mahama.
He has been charged with abetment to commit crime, to wit murder, in a court presided over by Worlanyo Kotoku.
Musah, who claims to be a tomato trader and driver, pleaded not guilty but his plea was not taken.
He is the second suspect to be hauled before the court after the state last week arraigned before court Gregory Afoko, the younger brother of Paul Afoko, National Chairman of the NPP, in connection with the crime.
The duo and another alleged accomplice, Asabke Alangdi, currently on the run, are said to have conspired and murdered Mr Mahama.
Alangdi has been on the run together with his wife, having left behind their one-and-a-half-year-old baby.
Bail Attempts
Alfred Adjei Mensah, lawyer for Musah, said the court must admit his client to bail pending the determination of the case.
He said the charge of abetment preferred against his client by the prosecution was not part of the case the court could not grant bail on, indicating that the hands of the judge had been strengthened by the 1992 Constitution to grant bail.
Mr Mensah stated that the facts as presented by the prosecution do not reflect the true state of the case before the court.
Alibi
Musah's lawyer further told the court that at the time of the incident his client had travelled to Burkina Faso and thus was outside the jurisdiction.
'My Lord, he has an alibi and the onus is on the police to investigate,' Mr Mensah intimated.
He argued that the prosecution had failed to link Musah to the crime just by saying that the accused went asking for a place to buy the acid.
The lawyer accused the prosecution of violating the fundamental human rights of his client by keeping him in custody beyond the statutory 48 hours.
Rebuttal
Supt Baah said the lawyer had introduced a lot of issues irrelevant to the case.
He stated that Musah was before the court for abetting murder and not abetment alone as indicated by Mr Mensah.
The police officer said the lawyer could not seek to separate the charge against the accused and make it look as though Musah had been charged with abetment.
He opined that the court must not grant bail to the accused person because per the alibi of Musah, the police had a lot of work to do.
Police/BNI Custody
The two parties fiercely disagreed on where to remand the accused person.
While the prosecution preferred Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) custody, Mr Mensah opted for police custody primarily to enable him have access to his client.
Meanwhile,Mr Kotoku, in a ruling, remanded Musah into BNI custody to appear on June 9, 2015.
Source: Modernghana