Stop Lynching Suspected Criminals �DSP Freeman Tetteh Warns

The Ghanaian public has been urged to cease the lynching of suspected criminals and instead allow them to face the law and pay for their actions. In an interview with Today on this practice, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Greater Accra Police Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Freeman Tetteh, warned the general public that it is a crime for anyone to take the law into their own hands. Hence a person who is alleged to have committed an offense must be proven beyond reasonable doubt to have committed that offense in a court of competent jurisdiction. �If anyone lynches somebody or attacks a suspected criminal, it is a serious offense punishable by law. Until the court proves the person to be guilty, the person will still be referred to as a suspected criminal�,� he explained. To this end, the police PRO revealed that his outfit has prosecuted people for indulging in mob justice and would not stop at nothing to prosecute later offenders, DSP Tetteh further revealed that there have been cases where people who are not even connected to a crime are �dispatched into early grave.� He however assured Ghanaians that investigations are always conducted to arrest those involved in mob actions. �We continue to educate and warn the public not to take the law into their hands. Anybody who does that knows it is wrong� that is why they escape after doing the act. There are lots of excuses that are given, but what is important is the abuse of the fundamental rights of people, denying that opportunity is not fair to the victims. It is an affront to democracy, the rule of law, natural justice and fair trial.� He cited a case in the Brong-Ahafo Region where a person was taking his mother-in-law to the morgue and people suspected that he was carrying a body for rituals, hence an attack on him leading to his death. His call was further supported by certain members of the public who believe the due process of the law is the best form of justice one can receive for committing crime.