Deeba loses extradition appeal
The Fast Track High Court yesterday rescinded its earlier order for the Director-General of the Prisons Service and the Attorney-General to produce Deeba Acheampong, a hiplife artiste, in court for his appeal filed before the court to be heard.
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This was after the court had struck out the appeal filed by Acheampong, on the grounds that it had been overtaken by events.
After striking out the appeal, the court, presided over by Mr Justice Edward Asante, said it was no longer faced with the jurisdiction to hear the matter.
Deeba, has since July 17, 2013, been extradited to the United Kingdom, to face five counts of defilement and assault for allegedly defiling his stepdaughter, who is 13 years, and assaulting a minor under the laws of the United Kingdom.
This was based on an arrest warrant received by INTERPOL Accra from its counterpart in London in December, 2012.
According to the warrant, between 2004 and 2008, while living in the UK, Deeba had a relationship with a woman who already had two daughters, aged eight and six, from a previous relationship.
Deeba and the woman also had two children from their union and lived separately, the warrant said.
It said when the woman went on night shift, Deeba took care of the home and cared for the children until September, 2008, when he returned to Ghana to pursue his musical career.
The warrant said two weeks after his departure from the UK, Deeba’s stepdaughter told her mother that her stepfather had sexual intercourse with her whenever her mother went to work in the night.
According to the warrant, on those occasions, Deeba invited the little girl into the bedroom to watch pornographic films with him, after which he would lay her on the bed, kiss her on the mouth, apply baby oil on his penis and have sex with her.
The little girl also alleged that the accused person sometimes had anal sex with her and that after each act, he put a sanitary towel in her pantie to avoid evidence of bloodstains and also hid the stained bed sheets.
She further alleged that Deeba threatened to beat her if she disclosed the acts to anyone.
He was also alleged to have assaulted the little girl’s sister between June 1 and 4, 2008, when she attempted to satisfy her curiosity about what was happening to her sister and that led to a cut on the back of the girl’s head.
A medical examination on the little girl by a forensic physician, Dr Ainsley Kassie, revealed extensive damage to her hymen as a result of vaginal penetration.
Deeba was said to have denied the offence when he was confronted by his fiancée, who later lodged a complaint with the police, following which the warrant was issued by the Northamptonshire Magistrate Court for the arrest of the accused person.
Deeba was arrested at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra during an undercover operation, but he denied the offence in his caution statement to the police.
After his arrest, Deeba was arraigned before the court, which took him through extradition proceedings.
The court, after lengthy deliberations, granted the extradition request by the United Kingdom authorities.
Dissatisfied with the court’s decision, Deeba, represented by an Accra-based legal practitioner, Mr Augustine Obour, filed the appeal.
By Michael Donkor/Daily Graphic/Ghana