High Court decides Osei-Adjei's passport seizure case August 11

An Accra Fast Track High Court will make its final ruling on August 11, 2009 in the case of former Foreign Minister, Akwasi Osei-Adjei who is suing government over the seizure of his passport. Mr. Osei-Adjei’s passport was confiscated by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) when he was invited for interrogation over his role in the importation of rice from India. Mr Osei-Adjei has dragged the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice as well as the Director of BNI to court to demand that the document is returned to him. Friday in court, dozens of student supporters of the opposition New Patriotic Party turned up to show solidarity for the former minister. “We are not here as lawyers and judges, we only here to show our solidarity as Ghanaians, as party people who have passion for our people who we think have served and deserve to be served,” a angry supporter said. They alleged the government is failing to prosecute people who are rather culpable of more grievous offences. In a fit of rage, a supporter said the president had failed to go by the party’s own promise to protect the rights of all citizenry. They insisted the president was presiding over a regime it of political persecution and witch hunting which could hurt public trust in the government. Osei-Adjei has described the seizure of his passport as an illegality and an abuse of his human rights, and dragged to court the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice as well as the Director of BNI. The ex-minister had his passport taken from him last May when he was ordered to report at the office of the BNI to help in investigations and his passport seized in the process. It was following this that Osei-Adjei sued the Justice Minister, government’s principal legal advisor and two other defendants, for illegality, abuse of power and unconstitutionality and cited the BNI boss for what he described as unreasonableness, capriciousness and arbitrariness. An affidavit of response from the accused persons argues that there was nothing unconstitutional about the seizure of the said passports. Source: Myjoyonline.com/Ghana