Statistics from prisons across the country have indicated that Sunyani Prison is second to none in terms of Indian hemp related cases, whilst the Central Region tops the list in the area of rape cases.
Executive Director of POS Foundation and the facilitator of the Justice for All Programme (JFAP), Jonathan Osei Owusu, revealed this to DAILY GUIDE at the Sunyani Prison last Friday when 76 remand prisoners were given various sentences.
According to him, it is worrying to realize that the police often keep suspects in prison for several years without trial based on suspicion of possessing or smoking Indian hemp. He said “this is against their human rights”.
In the Central Region, rape cases topped the list. He advised parents to caution their wards against possessing or smoking the weed in order not to be arrested.
He explained: “Another worrying thing is that police investigators and prosecutors do not understand the JFAP. The program deals with only remand prisoners and not ex-convicts. No ex-convict is a beneficiary of the JFAP”.
Furthermore, it is not all prisoners who qualify under the JFAP. On the charge of robbery, a suspect must be in incarceration for at least two years, whilst a murder suspect must spend at least three years in the prison to qualify for selection.
During last trial, 76 remand prisoners were given the following sentences: 14 were discharged; one convicted and fined; three convicted and imprisoned; 30 granted bail; 21 bail applications rejected; four referred to psychiatry enquiry and three absented themselves.
A principal state attorney, Ernest Ayeh, described the programme as revealing.
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