The Judicial Service is investigating the conduct of the Akyem Swedru Circuit Court judge who gave an order for a goat thief to be paraded on the streets of the town.
In a sentence similar to a punishment by a local shrine, the Akyem Swedru Circuit Court last Friday ordered the thief to hang the stolen animal around his neck, together with a placard with the inscription, “I am a goat thief”.
The convict, Stephen Ohene Agyekum, was paraded through the principal streets of the town under police escort and under the watch of many residents of the town who hooted at him.
Some lawyers have slammed the judge’s action and indicated that such punishment had not been prescribed under the laws of Ghana.
The Judicial Secretary, Mr Justice Alex B. Opoku-Acheampong, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said “the attention of the Judicial Service has been drawn to the issue”.
“We are investigating it to unravel what actually transpired in the courtroom at Akyem Swedru,” he said.
Asked if what the presiding judge did was permitted under the laws of Ghana, he declined to respond and added, “We are investigating the matter.”
Very wrong
Expressing his disappointment at the matter, a human rights lawyer, Mr Francis Xavier Sosu, told the Daily Graphic that “what happened is illegal and a wrongful exercise of the court’s discretion”.
“This is because under our laws, there are only two types of sentences — custodial and fines. There has been advocacy for alternative sentences but not one that will humiliate a convict and treat him or her in a dehumanising manner.
“Clearly, what happened in this case breaches Article 15 of the 1992 Constitution, which says the dignity of a person shall be inviolable.
Whether or not a person has been convicted does not mean he must be subjected to public ridicule,” Mr Sosu noted.
He applauded the Judicial Service for investigating the matter, stressing that “the entire criminal procedure is regulated by the law and judges must do well to follow the law”.
Background
The Akyem Swedru Circuit Court judge, Mr Emmanuel Brew, on August 21, 2015 ordered Agyekum, 30, an ex-convict and native of Asante Juaben, to sign a bond to be of good behaviour for 24 months, failing which he would serve a two-month prison term.
Facts
The facts of the case, as presented by the prosecutor, Detective Chief Inspector R. K. Sabbah, were that Agyekum, unemployed, and two others now at large stole a goat belonging to Madam Vida Yeboah at Akyem Swedru around 3 a.m. on August 20, 2015 and sold it to Madam Veronica Adwoa Opare for GH¢65.
Madam Opare kept the goat in her kitchen and went out. On her return home, she met the convict, who had broken into the kitchen, untied the goat and was about to take it away.
She held the convict and, with the help of some men, sent him to the Akyem Swedru Police Station and lodged a complaint.
During police interrogation, Agyekum admitted having stolen the animal, along with the two others, to sell in order to get his daily bread, as he found it very difficult to make ends meet after he was recently released from prison.
Agyekum pleaded with the judge to temper justice with mercy, saying he would not commit such an offence again.
However, after studying Agyekum’s charges of conspiracy, unlawful entry, causing damage and stealing, Mr Brew ordered him to carry the goat around his neck, together with the placard, and parade the principal streets of Akyem Swedru as his sentence.
Source: graphic.com.gh
