After his acquittal and discharge by an Accra High Court, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dr Benjamin Agordzo who was charged with treason charges has opened up about his trial.
In a recent interview with Joynews, the senior police officer called into question the knowledge of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, on the Arab Spring movement and activism.
According to him, while the AG had sought to hinge the case against him on his reference to the Arab Spring on a Take Action Ghana (TAG) platform, the AG’s position on the subject was informed by ignorance and an agenda to nail him.
“Does he understand Arab Spring? If he doesn’t, he should keep quiet. If he doesn’t understand Arab Spring, he should keep quiet. He is a lawyer but being a lawyer doesn’t mean that you know everything.
“You can be a lawyer and be an ignoramus in an area. I teach conflict. Do you understand me? I told you that I teach conflict at even MPhil level; I teach it at Kofi Annan, I teach it at all levels,” he stated.
The Attorney General, during the trial of Dr Agordzo and 9 others who were charged for plotting to take over government, argued that the senior police officer was involved in a plot to unseat the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo using violence.
However, according to ACP Agordzo, his reference to the Arab Spring was for the purpose of activism and not violence.
“Arab Spring or civil uprising and other things are democratic means of expressing dissent in every society. Today we espouse people like Martin Luther King and others, why are we espousing them?” he questioned.
He noted that the AG relied on one source to define Arab Spring instead of reading wide on the subject.
“When you go to the literature, go and google it anywhere. Be careful you don’t go to Wikipedia. Because when you go to Wikipedia, Wikipedia will give you some definition of rebellion, mutiny and other things, and I proved to the prosecution in court that when they need the definition of issues, they should not go to Wikipedia because they came out with a definition from Wikipedia which I drew their attention to and they could not talk about it again,” he said.
An Accra High Court on Wednesday, January 24, 2023, sentenced six individuals to death by hanging after finding them guilty of conspiracy to commit high treason and committing high treason.
The Court, however, acquitted ACP Agordzo, Colonel Samuel Kodzo Gameli and one other junior military officer, Corporal Seidu Abubakar who were also part of the accused persons.
The six sentenced to death included three soldiers; Donya Kafui, aka Ezor (a blacksmith) and Bright Alan Debrah Ofosu (a fleet manager), were found guilty of conspiracy to commit treason and treason, while Johannes Zikpi (a civilian employee of the Ghana Armed Forces) was found guilty of conspiracy to commit high treason.
The three soldiers – Warrant Officer II Esther Saan Dekuwine, Lance Corporal Ali Solomon, and Corporal Sylvester Akanpewon, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit high treason.
Background
Dr. Frederick Yao Mac-Palm, the Chief Executive Officer of Citadel Hospital (now deceased) and ACP Dr. Agordzo together with eight others were charged variously on April 24, 2021, for conspiracy to high treason, abetment to high treason and high treason.
Dr Mac Palm (A1- now Deceased), Donya Kafui alias Ezor (A2), Bright Allan Debrah Ofosu alias Bright Alan Yeboah (A3), Yohannes Zikpi (A4), Warrant Officer Class Two Esther Saan Dekuwine (A6), Cpl Seidu Abubakar (A7), Lance Corporal Ali Solomon (A8) and Cpl Sylvester Akanpewon (A9) were charged for conspiracy to commit high and high treason.
Col. Samuel Kodzo Gameli (A5) and ACP Dr Benjamin Agordzo (A10) have each been charged for abetment.
All 10 accused (then) pleaded not guilty and have been granted bail while standing trial.
However, following the death of Dr Mac-Palm (A1) who was then in the witness box giving testimony, his evidence was deleted from the records after his passing away was confirmed to the Court.