The lawyer for the four embattled Chinese and Vietnamese nationals standing trial with Aisha Huang (En Huang), Freddie Blay, has explained why he is defending them when there are concerns that it could mean he is fighting his own government.
According to Freddie Blay, the simple fact that his clients are being wrongly prosecuted is the reason he is in court making a case for them.
He insists that his clients are not involved in galamsey, and as such, they are being wrongly prosecuted in court.
He added that he is bent on defending them at all cost to get them to win their case.
Freddie Blay, who is the immediate-past Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), made this known in an interview on Citi FM and monitored by GhanaWeb on Wednesday, October 12, 2022.
He was responding to questions on why he, Freddie Blay, would take on a case like this when his party’s government, led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is the one leading the prosecution, and eventually the national fight against galamsey.
“My clients are not involved in galamsey. They have been wrongly put before court for that reason,” he insisted.
He added that he is doing this to ensure that his clients get their day in court and that the false accusations against them are properly addressed.
The four clients Shi Yang alias Philip, Li Wei Guo and Shi Mei Zhi (all Chinese nationals), and a Vietnamese national, Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen, who has been charged for remaining in Ghana after the expiration of a permit contrary to sections 20(1) and 52(1)(d) of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
The three Chinese nationals have been charged with engaging in illegal mining and small-scale mining without license.
Aisha Huang, known as a ‘galamsey kingpin,’ is also in court facing charges of undertaking a mining operation without a license, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry.
The case is to be heard again in court on October 24, 2022, where a case management conference will be held for Aisha Huang.
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Freddie Blay is a former National Chairman of the NPP