The High Court in Accra has fixed November 9, 2022 to begin the trial of galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang.
This was after the Prosecution had complied with the filing of all disclosure documents and witness statements they intend to rely on.
The Chinese galamsey queen has pleaded not guilty to four charges including re-entering Ghana without a permit from the Ghana Immigration Service.
The Court at the last hearing on October 24, 2022 reaffirmed its stance not to grant bail to 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.
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.
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.
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 Deputy A-G meant the prosecution had not complied with the court orders for the disclosures to have been filed before yesterday for the 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.
Brief facts
Per the brief facts of the case as narrated to the Court by Detective Chief Inspector Frederick Sarpong were that, the Complainants in the case are Security and Intelligence officers based in Accra.
He said, all the accused are Chinese nationals who have gained notoriety in engaging in series of small-scale mining activities known as ‘galamsey’ across the country.
The prosecutor said, during the year 2017, the 1st Accused (Aisha Huang) was arrested for similar offence but managed to sneak out of the country averting prosecution.
Detective Chief Inspector Sarpong said, during the early part of 2022, the 1st Accused sneaked back into the country after having changed the details on her Chinese passport.
The Prosecutor said, the 1st Accused again resumed small-scale mining activities without licence and together with 2nd, 3rd and 4th Accused persons engaged in the sale and the purchase in Accra without valid authority granted as required by the Minerals and Mining Act.
He stated that the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Accused persons are also into the sale of equipment used in illegal mining activities.
They were subsequently arrested upon Intelligence while further investigations have commenced.
Our Legal Affairs Correspondent Murtala Inusah joins v
