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Report by Edward FRIMPONG
The American Bar Association Center for Human Rights has revealed that it is “sending a free onlooker” into the Accra High Court, where Oliver Barker-Vormawor is currently standing trial in a criminal case.
“Trial monitoring, which entails sending an independent observer into court to observe trial proceedings, permits an assessment of whether a trial meets regional and international standards. Ghana is a State Party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which guarantee the right to a fair trial,” the report read in part.
The American Bar Association Center for Human Rights added that it is doing the trial monitoring through its Justice Defenders Program.
Oliver Mawuse Barker- Vormawor is the lead convener for the popular #FixTheCountry Movement in Ghana.
He was arrested in February 2022, immediately after his arrival at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra.
According to the government, a social media post he made criticizing the then Electronic Levy Bill, saying he would stage a coup if it was passed into law, amounted to a call or intention to overthrow the democratically elected government.
The Tema High Court granted him bail on March 17. On August 1, the Ashaiman District Court committed the social activist to stand trial on two counts of treason felony under Section 182 (b) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 [Act 29].
He appeared in the Accra High Court, Criminal Division 3 on Thursday, October 13, 2022, but the case was adjourned to October 21, when an application filed by lawyers of the accused to quash the bill of indictment will be heard.
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