Alleged coup plot : ’Stop humiliating me’ - ACP Agordzo
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Dr Benjamin Agordzo, who has been accused of aiding some people to plan a coup, says his prosecution is an attempt to destroy his career and gag him.
Speaking at the Kaneshie District Court on committal during committal proceedings Tuesday (March 3, 2020) the senior Police Officer also accused the prosecution and state investigation bodies of consistently humiliating him since his arrest
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According to him, he never drafted any “coup speech “ and that Take Action Ghana, the group accused of planning a coup never planned or discuss any coup.
TAG, he said, was mobilizing people to demonstrate against the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election violence.
Also, he said the statement he made on the platform was in relation to the dangers of political vigilante groups.
“I’m a citizen of Ghana and not a spectator and within that context, I spoke and made my views known to the world on the platform,” he said.
Humiliation
With regard to his accusations of humiliation, ACP Agordzo said as a senior police officer, it was not right for Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sylvester Asare, to prosecute him during the preliminary hearings of the case.
Also, he said it was also against protocol for a Chief Inspector to investigate him.
“This kind of humiliation must stop and I cannot go under this kind of torture. This must stop,” he told the court.
In response, a Senior State Attorney, Ms Hilda Craig, said the complaint by ACP Agordzo was out of place, reports Graphic Online's Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson who was in court.
According to her, the case against ACP Agordzo was a crime and not a police service enquiry.
She argued that crimes were prosecuted by the state and it was not the right of ACP Agordzo to determine who should investigate or prosecute him.
“This has nothing to do with rank. Anybody working against a crime is working on behalf of the state,” she said
The presiding magistrate, Mrs Eleanor Kakra Banes Botchway, agreed with the prosecutor and said although she understood what ACP Agordzo meant, crimes are investigated and prosecuted by the state.
“When a criminal allegation is made against anybody, the rank of the person will not decide who should prosecute or investigate him. The person is a suspect or an accused person,” she said.