Counsel for the Chief Executive Officer of Goodies Music Production, Isaac Abeiku Aidoo who is standing trial for allegedly swallowing 88 pellets of cocaine, yesterday prayed Justice Mahamadu Iddriss, an Accra Circuit Court Judge, to advise the media to give his client a bit of respect. Counsel, speaking particularly about recent media reports that his client was missing in court at the last adjourned date, disclosed that anytime there were such reports, his client suffered from high blood pressure.
The lawyer, who said he did not know the exact interest the media has in his client’s case, asked that the court stepped into the matter for the freedom of Goodies. In response to the pleading, the Judge stated that he did not know the journalists who come to his court, and indicated that the media has the right to be anywhere. He said the media should rather be commended for the work they do.The Judge, who said he did not want to believe that the journalists were doing discriminative reportage, noted that the most important thing the press must do is to appreciate the facts of the case and do their work well.
He said if the reportage was not bad and unfair, then counsel should advise his client to take it kindly. After this, the Assistant State Attorney, Paul Abariga called two officers from the Narcotics Control Board to testify in the matter. Mr. Jerry John Kwasi Abbiwu, in giving his evidence, told the court that on April 23, 2008, he was on duty at the Kotoka International Airport Central Screening Point when he saw the accused person going through departure formalities. He said when the accused got to the NACOB point, he (witness) invited him for profiling; but the answers the accused gave regarding his travelling document were not convincing, so he decided to conduct a urine test on the accused.
Mr. Abbiwu said when he sent Goodies to the washroom, he was unable to produce the urine for the test and so he suggested that an x-ray test be conducted on the accused. Accused was subsequently handed over to his (witness’) Commander, Anthony Smith, for further action. The witness, who noted that he was not part of the team that sent Goodies to the 37 Military Hospital for the x-ray test, revealed that the Commander detailed two officers called Dadzie and Issaq Bakure to do that.When asked by counsel, under cross-examination, whether the Commander lied to the court when he said he personally instructed the witness and Dadzie to take the accused to the hospital, the witness answered in the negative; explaining that on that fateful day, he arrested five drug suspects and took some of them to the 37 Hospital so the Commander probably thought he was among the team that took Goodies to the hospital.
Counsel, still not convinced with the answer, further asked the witness if the Commander could not differentiate between him (witness) and the said Issaq Bakure; but the witness replied that he had already explained the circumstances that made the Commander refer to him as Bakure. The second witness, Benjamin Kingsley Dadzie, who said his main duty at the airport include profiling passengers and performing urine test to ascertain whether a passenger has narcotic drugs with him, informed the court that on that day at about 10:30 pm, the Commander instructed officer Bakure and himself to accompany the accused to the 37 Military Hospital for an x-ray examination.
He disclosed that the x-ray examination was conducted twice because the first result was inconclusive so there was the need for the second test which proved positive that accused had foreign material in his stomach. According to him, after the second test, he brought the accused back to the airport, leaving Bakure to wait for the physical report. He said when they returned to the airport, he verbally informed his Commander about the result and handed over the accused him.
Under cross-examination, counsel put it to him that it was not because of the absence of a police officer that he brought accused back to the airport but because the x-ray result was negative.However, the witness maintained that it was because the test was rather positive that he made Issaq stay behind while he brought the accused to the airport to inform their Commander.
The witness agreed with counsel that he was not there when Bakure returned with the result.The accused person, who is still on remand, had pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted exportation and possessing of narcotic drug without lawful authority.
