By: Nicholas Osei-Wusu
The Asokwa Circuit Court near Kumasi in the Ashanti region has granted bail to the Suame Constituency NDC Youth Organizer, Razak Koampa Avoliya with two sureties to justify.
He is to appear before the court again on the 9th of next month, March 2023 when the trial is expected to start.
He is facing a single charge of ‘Offensive Conduct conducive to breach the peace’ contrary to Section 207 of the Criminal and Other Offences law, Act 29 of 1960 as Amended.
At his second appearance in court today, Tuesday February 14, 2023, the Presiding judge of the court, Mr. Fred Obikyere, directed the prosecution team led by the Head of Legal and Prosecution of the Ashanti Central Regional Police Command, ACoP Kofi Blagodzi, to serve Razak’s Legal Team with all the documents and materials it will be relying on for the prosecution before the next adjourned date in line with the law on fair trial.
At today’s hearing, the prosecution formally proffered the charge to the accused person for which the court took his plea.
Mr. Avoliya pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The judge, Mr. Obikyere then took the facts of the case from ACoP Blagodzi who narrated that, ‘before or on the 6th of February, 2023, the police received a video that had gone viral on social media in which Razak asked NDC members to use guns to kill members of the NPP in the run up to the 2024 general elections.’
According to ACoP Blagodzi, the accused was traced to Suame where he lives and also serves as the Youth Organizer of the NDC in that Constituency.
According to him, the utterances by Razak amounts to inciting a section of the member of the public to attack others to create chaos in the society.
The defence legal team of five (5) lawyers led by Mr. Evans Amankwaah, prayed the court for a bail for their client arguing that ‘Razak is a known Suame Constituency Youth Organizer of the NDC for 12 years and a resident of Suame and that, he will be available to the court anytime necessary’.
Another member of the defence legal team also prayed the court to tamper justice with mercy in a show of ‘love on a day the world is commemorating as Valentine, which is love’ so that Razak could also go back to his family to show love to his family.
The prosecution team did not oppose the bail application.
At the court premises was a large crowd of NDC faithful including sympathizers spanning national, regional, constituency and ward executives to ordinary members including the aged who were there to show solidarity to Razak.
At the delegation from the national level was the National Organizer, Joseph Yamin while the Regional Vice Chairman, Captain Jabari also led his regional executives.
Other prominent NDC members around included a former Ashanti Regional Security Liaison Officer, Mr. Bempon Marfo.
The party faithful, upon information of the bail, chanted some of the NDC’s popular songs like ‘Revo, Revo…’.
Also at the court complex premises was a significant number of police personnel both armed and unarmed within and around the premises to protect life and property.
Later in an interview, the National Organizer, Joseph Yamin, stressed that, the arrest and prosecution of the Suame Constituency Youth Organizer of the NDC will not intimidate members of the party going into next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
