A social justice activist, Felicity Nelson, who participated in the recent Democracy Hub #StopGalamseyNow protest, has criticised Ghana’s criminal justice system, stating that it “treats suspects like slaves.”
Ms Nelson recounted her experience with the Ghana Police Service, alleging unfair treatment while in police custody for two weeks.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, October 12, Nelson said that the police grabbed her off the street without informing her of any arrest, took her phone, and it was only at the police station that she knew from a statement from the investigator that she was being held for unlawful assembly.
She said that her rights to contact her family were denied.
“When I was moved to the Cantonments Police Station when I got there I said I needed to call my family. From the time my phone was taken when I was arrested – the police had my phone for about 10 days and I had not seen my phone. So I got to the police station and said I needed to call my family – I’m asthmatic, and I needed to let them know so they could bring my inhaler, they told me no, your phone is not here so you can’t make a phone call,” she explained.
Ms Nelson said she explained to the police that, since she was in custody, she did not have access to her phone, which was being held by the police, and that she had no information about which officer had possession of it.
“So I went into the cell. In the night, I actually had an asthma attack and I was taken to the police hospital. When we got to the police hospital, they said I needed an inhaler and it was 140 cedis. The policeman who took me to the police hospital did not have 140 cedis, they said they couldn’t afford to buy the inhaler.
“There was a lot of back and forth between them and the doctor. I have had family members who have died from asthma attacks. They had to do something called nebulisation, that was 75 cedis so that they could afford,” she said.
She noted that during this time, her family discovered that she was being held at the Cantonments Police Station and visited three times to drop off her inhaler. However, the police falsely claimed she was not there.
She clarified that the police had the opportunity to take the inhaler from her family and bring it to her but failed to do so.
In light of this, Ms Nelson expressed her displeasure with the country’s justice system for allowing such incidents to occur, adding that many others she spoke with in the cell shared similar frustrations.
“When I was in the cells, I talked to other inmates who had never been unable to call any of their friends. People who have been there for six months and they have never been able to call so they don’t even know they are in there. That means they have no access to legal counsel,” she stressed.
She continued; “So it’s not just about me, it’s about how our criminal justice system treats suspects like slaves, treats them like people without rights; that’s what is really about.”
Felicity was among 53 Ghanaians who protested against illegal mining and were arrested and detained for unlawful assembly among other charges.
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