The ECOWAS Court of Justice has ordered the government of Ghana to pay $75,000 in damages for violating the fundamental human rights of 30 members of the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF), also known as Western Togoland activists.
The court ruled that the state violated the rights of the so-called Western Togolanders by detaining them for more than a year without trial, and ordered that each of the 30 members be paid $2,500 in compensation.
On May 16, 2025, the High Court in Accra also acquitted and discharged three Ghanaians who had been linked to the group.
Following the ruling, the three men shared the ordeals they had endured over the past five years since their arrest.
Overjoyed by their acquittal, the men revealed they were detained by the state for more than three years without trial.
One of the men, who identified himself as Richard, a mason, said he was working at his site when soldiers brutalised and arrested him.
He recounted that to date, he cannot feel parts of his right leg, which was injured during the arrest.
He added that as a result of the incident, he lost his wife and children, who chose not to associate with him due to the allegations.
“I don’t know anything called Western Togoland. They came to meet me at my site, I’m a construction worker. The soldiers attacked me, shocked me. Even right now, this leg is not working,” Richard said.
“You put me in jail for three and a half years without bail. Today they are saying I didn’t do anything… I’m so happy to have my freedom. But what I’ve gone through for five good years… As I’m standing here, I don’t know where my family is now.”
He continued, “My wife left me, packed everything in my house. So, I can’t find my wife or any of my children. I have three children, two girls and one boy, I don’t know where they are now.”
The three men were acquitted and discharged by the High Court after being accused of belonging to a prohibited organisation.
The court found that the state had failed to establish any concrete link between the men and the Western Togoland group.
Watch the interview of the three men below:
Accra High Court has acquitted and discharged three individuals who were standing trial alongside four others for alleged membership in the Western Togoland Restoration Front, a prohibited organization…
Legal Correspondent Murtala Inusah (@MurtalaInusah)#GHOneNews… pic.twitter.com/rYzWuvQ1MG
— GHOne TV (@ghonetv) May 16, 2025
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