Six persons in Nayale Ametepeh cocaine  saga  granted bail

The six accused persons in the Nayele Ametepeh cocaine saga were today granted bail by an Accra Circuit Court. 

Each of the six accused persons was admitted to a 100 thousand cedis bail with three sureties, one to be justified, while one is to be a public servant whose net monthly salary should not be less than one thousand Ghana cedis.

The accused are also to report to the BNI every Monday till further notice The court presided by Francis Obiri waived the right of the prosecution to respond to the bail application by the defence team because they failed to appear in court yesterday when they were aware that the application was to be moved.

Chief State Attorney Penelope Mamattah explained to the court that she was stuck in traffic hence her failure to be in court.

The  court had on previous  occasions  refused to grant the accused  bail, but the defence insisted that the  facts of the  case as presented  by the prosecution  did not  match  the  charges. 

Mr Obiri in granting the bail said the offences against the accused persons are bailable even though they are narcotics related.  

The defence team prayed the court to vary the bail condition for their clients to only two sureties to enable their clients fulfil the bail condition so as to spend the Christmas in their homes.

The prosecution however argued that the court had been lenient considering the gravity of the offences against the accused persons.

The six accused are the two ladies who allegedly travelled with Nayele Ametefeh, Nana Aku Amponsah and Sadalia Nuhu.

The others are a Deputy Director at the Foreign Affairs Ministry Abiel Ashitey Armah,  protocol officers at the VVIP Lounge of the  Kotoka International Airport  Ahmed Abubakar and  Theophilus Kissi and  a  businessman, Alhaji Mohammed Dawood, who allegedly facilitated the  ladies access to the  VIP Lounge.

One of the defence lawyers for the accused persons, Frank Davies was happy with the court's decision. He was hopeful that his clients be able to meet the bail condition before Christmas. 

GBC