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The late Professor Emmanuel Yaw Benneh
The four people who were arrested in connection with the death of University of Ghana law professor Professor Emmanuel Yaw Benneh appeared in Kaneshie District Court on Wednesday.
They were subsequently placed in police custody by the court to reappear on Wednesday, September 30, 2020.
This is to allow the police to carry out further investigations into the alleged murder.
All four, Christian Pobee, 32, cleaner; Isaac Botchwey, 41, servant; James Nana Womba, 26, cleaner; and Adams Mensah Mansur, 52, gardener; they have been provisionally charged with murder.
They all pleaded not guilty when they appeared before the court presided over by Mrs. Eleanor Kakra Barnes Botchway.
The late professor’s four domestic workers were detained by police on Sunday after the body was found at their home around 8 a.m. on Saturday, September 12, in a pool of blood.
The late professor’s hands had been tied behind his back and there were marks from multiple acts of assault and resulting cuts on his body.
In court on Wednesday, the prosecutor, Inspector Ebenezer Teye-Okuffo, asked the court to return the four to pretrial detention, as investigations were still ongoing in the case.
Bond
However, defense attorney Robert Esuman, pleading for bail for two of the defendants, Isaac Botchway and Adams Mensah Mansur, said that the facts of the case did not establish the elements of the murder against the two.
He said that the disappearance of the law professor had been and continues to be a blow not only for his family, but also for the legal fraternity and for the entire country.
“The voice of justice calls out loudly for the guilty to be dealt with in accordance with the law, but in an attempt to achieve this end, there is a need for a thorough investigation so as not to violate the rights of innocent souls like my clients,” he argued .
He added that by law, his clients are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
In addition, he told the court that his clients had permanent places of residence, adding that they will be used for a police investigation.
He said that one of his clients had served the late professor for 26 years and had cooked for the deceased on several occasions and the relationship between them was like family.
Opposite Bail
However, in responding, the prosecution objected to bail, saying that the police had seized the defendants’ mobile phones and that “we have yet to take a court order to access their phones.
He again said that the telecommunications network operators to which the defendants had subscribed had also not been contacted.
He said it was premature for the defendants to be released on bail, stating that the preventive detention of the defendants would hamper police investigations.
Preventive
The court, in sending the defendants, said that it was necessary for the court to divert its attention from the seriousness and nature of the crime, adding that the court did not have jurisdiction to grant bail to the defendants.
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