Mahama gunman to be freed

Source: The Finder - Information gathered by Weekend Finder indicates that plans are far advanced to quash the decision of the Circuit Court that sentenced Charles Antwi, 36, the man at the centre of the president’s assassination attempt.

According to our sources, his legal team who is seeking for his freedom will be filing a certiorari at a higher court to quash the decision of the lower court which sentenced Charles to 10 years imprisonment for possessing firearms without lawful authority.

Among the grounds for the certiorari application is the fact that the convict's right to have a counsel was breached.

Hours of Psychiatric Evaluation conducted by a professor of Psychiatry last Wednesday indicate that Antwi is not mentally sound.

The sources indicated that even at the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) cells, Antwi has consistently demonstrated that he does not have the requisite will to commit the offence for which he was convicted.

Due to his mental state the BNI have still not transferred him to Nsawam prisons where he is supposed to be.

Lawyer Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, a Human Rights and Public Interest Lawyer who has volunteered to offer free legal aid to the convict has indicated to Weekend Finder that processes are far advanced for the filing of the Certiorari application under Article 33 of the 1992 Constitution to quash the decision of the circuit court.

According to him, the convict clearly demonstrated through his actions and utterances that he was mentally sick and unstable because the convict even promised him of financial benefits once he becomes President.

He explained that he convict did not have the requisite mental ability to plead to the charge leveled against him as he is mentally challenged.

According to the lawyer, under National Redemption Council Decree (NRCD) 9 under which he was found guilty, the maximum custodian sentence was 5 years and not 10 years.

According to Lawyer Sosu, all the above amounted to an error of law so patent on the face of the record and that the said errors have occasioned real miscarriage of justice.

The convict's continuous detention in prison also violates the Mental Health Act and other international protocols which set standards for treating persons with mental disability.

An Accra Circuit Court presided over by Mr Francis Obiri on Tuesday, July 28 sentenced Antwi, the man who took a double barrel gun to the Ring Road Assemblies of God Church where President John Dramani Mahama worships, to 10 years imprisonment.

He pleaded guilty to possessing firearms without lawful authority. Antwi, unemployed, claimed President Mahama was not ruling the country well, so he wanted to take over the Presidency, and had therefore taken the gun to the church on three occasions.

The National Security Secretariat who were present at the church premises of the Ringway Gospel Centre branch of the Assemblies of God Church where the president worships took Antwi into custody for possessing gun in the chapel.

President Mahama and the first family are members of the Church, but were absent when the incident occurred.

A statement signed by Dr Edward K. Omane Boamah, the Minister of Communications said the man was arrested after his fidgety and suspicious behaviour was noticed during the morning service.

He was escorted out of the Church by security personnel, and following a search, the weapon was found, the statement indicated.