One of the organizers of the #FixTheCountry protesters has explained how Police on Friday June 4, 2021 threatened to slap him and change the shape of his spectacles.
Some personnel of the Ghana Police Service clashed with the #FixTheCountry protestors at the premises of the Accra High Court, hearing their case. The protestors alleged that the police have deliberately prevented them from entering the court premises.
Convenors of the #FixTheCountry protests were scheduled to appear before the court after the police secured an ex parte injunction against their earlier demonstration slated for May 9.
According to Adatsi Brownson, while he and another friend were waiting on the walkway opposite the TUC building for another member of the #FixTheCountry campaign team, in order to attend a court hearing where they have been served, a Police Officer whose name he gave as Gyasi, who might have suspected them to be members of the #FixTheCountry team, approached and demanded to know why they were standing there. He said as soon as he told the officer that where they were standing is a public space, he was offended and asked that “we leave but we insisted we were going to wait for our friend”
““The police officer insisted that we tell him why we were waiting for our friend to which we said no. Then he demanded we should leave but we said no. All of a sudden the officer took his phone and took a shot of us. We approached to find out why he did that, without our permission. He told us if we were not comfortable we should go to court”.
Adatsi Brownson continued that after they have tried unsuccessfully to have the officer delete their images from his phone, their female friend finally came out. The officer whose name he gave as Gyasi, said to our friend “you are a woman and should not be doing this”.
He said when the lady asked what being a woman got to do with protest and making sure that development reached everyone, “the Police officers started manhandling us. So we wanted to record the exchange. This got then angry and they arrested my friend who pulled out his phone to record, snatched his phone and asked that he be taken away but did not allow that”.
“Then when we got to the court, we met with another group of Police officers who said we can’t enter, we asked why but they didn’t give us any answer, but only said that if we have a case, our lawyers should be there but we said we were served to appear“, Mr. Adatsi narrated.
“At this point too, they started manhandling us so another convenor called Felicity took her phone to record, they snatched it, then another drama all together in front of the High Court”.
At one point they held me and one of the officers without a name tag, said he will slap and change the shape of my spectacle. I became furious and told him he can go ahead. But thank God he didn’t touch me. Only that they squeeze my hands and manhandled us all, Mr. Adatsi Brownson concluded.
