Security Expert Emmanuel Sowatey has shared that for many of the ‘delayed’ cases under police investigation, there may be a perfect justification for such situations.
According to him, the lay man may view these cases as “ordinary” and may expect an expeditious handling of the case. However, that may not always be the case.
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His opinion comes at the back of the adjournment of the case in which 38-year-old Richard Appiah allegedly murdered two children at Abesim in the Bono Region. This adjournment is to enable the police prosecuting the case to receive the report on the post mortem examination conducted on the two children by the Pathologist.
He notes that even though these processes may spell a delay in the case, “in certain professional dispositions, the case is not ordinary” and may have to take some time.
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He tells Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show: “When it comes to high profile crimes. sometimes the criminal justice systems are not only about the police. It goes round and many other people are involved”.
He thus advised the media and the Police to put in more efforts in educating the general public on processes involved in the justice system.
“Those who are a bit enlightened should educate others that what may seem ordinary is not always ordinary. The police must use their interaction to educate the people to increase their trust in the police. The media should be taking updates for the public and that will allow people to follow cases”, he encouraged.
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Richard Appiah, whose case is in court, is alleged to have murdered 12- and 15-years old boys and a yet-to-be identified man whose bodies were found in his living quarters at Alaska, near Abesim, in the Sunyani Municipality in the Bono Region on Friday, August 20, 2021.
Other murder cases brought to light by the media have seen many questioning the investigative processes of the Ghana Police Service as some of these cases have led to a dead end.
For example, in 2018 four young girls in Takoradi, Ruth Abakah, 19; Priscilla Blessing Bentum, 21; Ruth Love Quayson,18 and Priscilla Koranchie, 15 were alleged to have been kidnapped and murdered between July and December 2018.
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The incident triggered a national discussion with many public protests staged especially in Takoradi to demand the return of girls and impress upon the government to act swiftly. #BringBackOurTaadiGirls trended on Twitter especially, demanding concrete police action.