Unless there is delay, no bail for Aisha Huang - Judge
The Accra High Court has reaffirmed its stance not to grant bail to alleged Chinese illegal mining (galamsey) kingpin, En Huan, aka Aisha Huang.
The presiding judge, Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, said unless there was undue delay in the trial, there would be no basis to grant Aisha Huang bail.
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Justice Marfo said this yesterday when lead counsel for Aisha Huang, Captain (rtd) Nkrabea Effah-Dartey, made an attempt to make a fresh application for bail.
The latest move was the third time lawyers for Aisha Huang had attempted to secure her bail, with all attempts being rejected by the court.
Reason
In her ruling dismissing the first bail application on September 16, this year, Justice Marfo held that Aisha Huang as a foreigner was a flight risk, especially as she did not have any financial ties to the country.
It was also the considered view of the court that due to the severity of the offences allegedly committed and the associated punishment, the accused person was likely to abscond when granted bail.
New move
At yesterday’s hearing, Captain (rtd) Effah-Dartey submitted that the time was ripe for his client to be granted bail.
Counsel made the submission after a Deputy Attorney-General (A-G), Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, informed the court that clerks from his outfit were now at the court’s registry to file the prosecution documents for the trial for pre-trial to commence.
According to Captain (rtd) Effah-Dartey, the submission by the Deputy A-G meant the prosecution had not complied with the court orders for the disclosures to have been filed before yesterday for pre-trial to start.
Counsel then attempted to repeat the bail application.
Justice Marfo, however, stopped counsel in his tracks and indicated that she would not change her stance not to grant bail to Aisha Huang.
“Unless there is an unreasonable delay in the trial, I will not grant bail to the accused person. I stand by my decision in the earlier application for bail,” Justice Marfo said.
Hearing continues on November 2 for case management conference and pre-trial.
Justice Marfo directed the prosecution to file all the disclosures and also served same on Aisha Huang and her lawyers four days before the adjourned date.
Not guilty
En Huang has been accused of being in the thick of affairs of galamsey, especially in the Ashanti Region.
She was deported from the country in 2018, after the A-G decided to discontinue her trial in which she was accused of engaging in small-scale mining without licence.
However, she was said to have sneaked back into the country to allegedly engage in the same activities for which she was deported.
The A-G then decided to prosecute her for the alleged crimes before her deportation and new ones committed since her entry back into the country.
It is the case of the prosecution that Aisha had an illegal mining concession at Bepotenten in the Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region and also operated a mining support services company.
She has pleaded not guilty to undertaking a mining operation without a licence, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, the illegal employment of foreigners, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry.