Aisha Huang, the galamsey kingpin, and her four accomplices will continue to be in custody after the trial judge, Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo, refused a bail application made by the lawyers for the accused.
Aisha Huang, Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng were remanded into the custody of the National Investigation Bureau pending the final determination of their case on November 24, 2022.
In court on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, when Aisha Huang’s lawyer who is also a one-time Presidential candidate for the governing NPP, Captain Nkrabea Effah Dartey, rose to move an application for bail, the trial judge quickly stopped him and indicated that she will still refuse the application for bail.
“My mind has not changed; you can make the application and I’ll still refuse you,” Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo told Nkrabea Effah Dartey.
Also, the judge refused a similar application made on behalf of the four others who are now being represented by a former NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, said she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices in the persons of Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
“These people are foreigners, we do not have sufficient financial or social ties within the jurisdiction of this court and as we know, in this country people usually do not need any passport to exit if they are minded to leave and considering the severity of the punishment the accused persons will suffer if found guilty. I have a sufficient belief that when granted bail, they will not appear before the court to stand trial,” Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo stressed.
The plea of three of the accused persons has been taken with that of the last deferred due to the unavailability of a Vietnamese translator.
Meanwhile, Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney-General, indicated to the court the state's readiness to expeditiously dispose off the case and will be willing to try the case on a day-after-day basis.
He observed that the judge superintending over the case has “also indicated his inclination to conduct the case in that manner.”
“In respect of Aisha Huang, we have filed most of the documents to be relied on, we have filed witness statements of four witnesses. We only need to fill about four more,” Dame added.
PEN/SARA
Aisha Huang