A-G to review conviction of Tagor, others

The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Betty Mould-Iddrisu

The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Betty Mould-Iddrisu, has served notice her ministry will soon reopen certain narcotic cases already decided by the courts.

The minister said her ministry will employ some "ingenious" ways to review drug-related cases already determined by the courts under the erstwhile NPP administration.

The decision of the A-G suggests, the famous MV Benjamin narcotic case in which two persons, Kwabena Amanin (alias Tagor) and a Kumasi-based business man, Alhaji Issah Abass, were convicted, will soon be given another touch.

In pursuance of this agenda, the A-G has instructed the Narcotics Control Board to furnish her with the report of the Georgina Wood committee which was tasked in 2006 to investigate the MV Benjamin saga.

The report formed the basis of the trial and conviction of the two persons.

Speaking to Joy FM's Evans Mensah on Friday, Madam Mould-Iddrisu said the review meant prosecutors would focus on dealing with the "high incidence of allegations" against some personalities mentioned in the trials.

The A-G's decision will also seek to reduce sentences slapped on the convicted barons "if we are not time-barred."

She however admitted that the review does not suggest the accused persons will be retried.

Meanwhile a law lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kofi Abotsi, admitted that the convicted persons could suffer "double jeopardy" if the case is reopened.

"The case cannot be reopened before a judicial body unless by way of appeal," he stressed.

It is unknown how events will turn especially following the return of Benjamin Ndego, who was billed to testify as a key witness in the MV Benjamin case.

Alhaji Issah Abbas had told the court Ndego had planted a secret recording gadget on him to extract information from former Chief of Police Operations ACP Kofi Boakye.

Mr Ndego was the Deputy Director and former Head of Operations at the Narcotics Control Board.


Story by Fiifi Koomson/Myjoyonline.com