Two officials connected to Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) have filed a human rights case against the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), accusing the office of breaching their rights by photographing them while they held placards showing their names.
The case, which was shared on the OSP’s official Facebook page, was filed at the Human Rights Division of the High Court in Accra.
The applicants, Mr. Christian Tetteh Sottie, Managing Director of SML and former Technical Advisor to the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and Dr. Isaac Crentsil, former Commissioner of the Customs Division of the GRA and current Manager at SML, are asking the court to declare the OSP’s action unlawful.
They argue that taking their pictures in that manner violated their right to dignity and privacy under the 1992 Constitution.
They also want the court to stop the OSP from publishing or circulating the photographs.
The two named the Special Prosecutor and the Attorney-General as respondents in the suit.
They are invoking the enforcement of their rights under Articles 15(1) and (2), 18(2), 19(2)(c), and 21(1)(a) of the Constitution, which protect dignity, privacy, fair trial, and freedom of expression.
The OSP is currently investigating several persons, including former Finance Minister Kenneth Ofori-Atta, over the revenue assurance contract between the GRA and SML.
The applicants insisted that the investigation should be done in a way that respects the rights of all persons involved.
By: Jacob Aggrey