6 People Sentenced To Death By Hanging In Ghana

Six Ghanaians, including three military staff, have been sentenced to death by hanging for their role in a coup trick that unfurled three years ago in the country.

There was a heavy security deployment outside the High Court in Accra during the sentencing on Wednesday January 24.

This historic case is Ghana’s first treason trial since 1966, the year Kwame Nkrumah, the leader after independence, was overthrown.

The people, arrested in 2021 while trying out with weapons in the capital city, Accra, with a supposed aim to oust the government, have been condemned following an exceptionally exposed preliminary that caught the eye of the whole country.

Among the accused is a gunsmith, and in spite of the gravity of the charges, the group kept up with their supplication of not blameworthy all through the procedures.

Meanwhile, the defense lawyers stated that they would file an appeal with the Supreme Court to challenge the decision.

However, three others, including a senior cop and two military officials, were vindicated.

The court found the six guilty of high treason and conspiracy to commit high treason.

The men were arrested with locally manufactured guns, improvised explosive devices and AK-47 rifles, according to court documents.

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State prosecutors said the group had planned to organise protests, ostensibly to topple President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government ahead of the 2020 general elections.

The court stated that it found the men’s evidence, including testimonies and intercepted communications, convincing.

Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame, who led the prosecution, praised the court verdict as “significant”.

“The constitution of Ghana as the fundamental law of the country, which has sustained the stability of the nation, frowns seriously upon any attempt to overthrow a government ” Mr Dame said.

Ghana, under democratic rule since 1992, recently abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes through a legislative decision in the previous year. The new regulation replaces the death penalty with a lifelong incarceration.