Money can’t compensate my unlawful incarceration- Eric Asante

Mr Eric Asante, the 40-year-old teacher wrongfully convicted for defiling and impregnating a 14-year-old girl, has described his ordeal as a terrible experience which cannot be fully compensated for by any amount of money.

The man sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labour by the Tamale High Court in September 2005, told The Mirror that though he would be seeking for compensation from the state, his loss can never be calculated in monetary terms.

“The shame, disgrace and number of sleepless nights can never be recouped. I languished in jail for a crime I did not commit. My family supported me through all those years but there were many people who until my exoneration last week, did not believe my side of the story.”

“Before the defilement allegation, I was in a relationship with a lady and two years after my sentence when the Appeals Court dismissed my appeal, I had to end the relationship because I couldn’t let her wait for 15 years. She trusted me and did not believe all the accusations levelled against me, but I eventually had to let go because age was catching up with her,” an emotional Mr Asante said.

Mr Asante added he believed his grandmother died of high blood pressure, a condition he suspects was linked to the allegations levelled against him and his subsequent conviction.

He said even after his exoneration, he had heard and read comments from some members of the public insinuating that though the DNA results, the basis on which he was released, stated that he was not the father of the fruit of that pregnancy, he might have had sexual intercourse with the girl.

Support from GCGL

In November 2015, The Mirror, a weekly newspaper of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), approached human rights lawyer, Francis Xavier Sosu, to intervene in the matter which had travelled from the High Court to the Supreme Court.

Though Mr Asante was released from prison earlier that year based on good conduct after serving two-thirds of his sentence, the paper engaged the services of Mr Sosu to help clear his name to enable his reinstatement into the Ghana Education Service (GES).

The GCGL, therefore, paid the consultation and filling fees of F-X Law & Associates, the legal firm headed by Mr Sosu.

“The DNA analysis conducted proved that he was not the father of the child. As a national paper, one of our mandates is to provide a platform for the voiceless. Also as a family paper, we aim at strengthening family bonds and I think the wrongful conviction affected his family.

“The support was to help him clear his name and that of the family since a healthy family is the bedrock of a healthy community and nation. We consider it as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility and also to help redress some of the wrongs in the society,” Ms Janet Quartey, the Editor of The Mirror explained.

She added that it was also to encourage people to believe in the Judicial System and not to take the law into their hands to vindicate themselves.

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Questions without answers

Mr Asante said though he had been exonerated by the Supreme Court, he was still shocked at how such a case could linger on for over a decade.

“Right from the beginning, I insisted on my innocence and suggested we do the DNA as soon as the child was born. However, there was very little I could do in jail and had to wait for all these years.”

He said he was also baffled by the fact that of all the male teachers in the school, the girl mentioned him as the culprit.

“From the ruling, it is clear the actual culprit responsible for the crime is out there. What happens to him now that I have been exonerated?” he queried.

Way forward

Mr Asante said he was working together with his lawyer for compensation from the state and most importantly, reinstatement into the GES.

“Before I was convicted, I was preparing to further my education so that is what I would do after I receive the compensation. I am also considering starting a family,” he added.