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.[adrotate group=”2″]
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.