It's a shame the way we treat mental issues in our part of the world.

What's interesting is that any one of us could become a victim of mental illness due to several circumstances, at any point in time.

Mahatma Ghandi once said "There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts".

Disclaimer: My last name is Antwi and so is that of the accused who carried a loaded gun to the "President's Church" in Accra two weeks ago.

We aren't related in any way.

This is not to claim some form of 'superiority' (who am I to claim such?) over the brother based on his current state but in accordance with the principle of 'reflexive writing' where the writer reflects on the dynamics of his/her position as a writer on one hand and an effector on the narrative piece on the other.

I am not a lawyer nor a student of law but just a concerned Ghanaian.

You are thus entreated to take this commentary of mine which is laced with some strings of facts from our constitution as my 'un' biased opinion, if there's anything like that.

With that said, I would like to mention that no one needs to suffer the late night vigil and the constant researching of our learned lawyers to see the miscarriage of justice with its attendant comical outlook in the trial of Mr. Charles Antwi who was sentenced 10 years for carrying an unregistered fire arm to the 'President's church'. 10 years sentence for the man who would later admit of his intentions of killing the first gentleman of our land.

Talking about lawyers, let me take this opportunity to credit hardworking Egbert Faible Jnr, Ace Ankomah and Samson Lardi Ayenini (my mentor friend) and a few lawyers who constantly avail their knowledge and prick our constitutional conscience in a positive way through their Facebook postings and free lectures on other platforms.

At this point, permit me to first of all point out what I'm not saying in this piece.

First, I'm not in any way saying  that the arrest of Mr. Charles Antwi is a bad thing. In fact, I'm glad he was apprehended on time to save us from whatever could have happened including the abhorrent possibility of losing the president of our dear nation, God forbid! 

Secondly, I do not have any issues with the fact that the suspect was 'hurriedly' arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction within 48 hours.

In fact this is a good thing and I pray that all other cases be dealt with in such swift manner since that's in line with Article 14(3b) of our constitution.

Neither am I insinuating that the unascertained  mental state of a suspect should absorb that person from going to court, at least not before it has become clear to the judge and supported by a mental institution that the person is indeed in some state of mental disability.

With these hurdles crossed, please allow me to tell you what in my opinion constitutes some illegalities and other matters arising from the issue.

Starting with the 10 year sentence. If the news account of Mr. Antwi's arrest is anything to go by, then we know that he was arrested and sent to court on the charge of  'possession of firearm without lawful excuse' of which  the  Small Arms and Ammunition Act of 1972'  states that such a person shall  "be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding c5 million or to imprisonment not exceeding five years or to both.[As amended by the Arms and Ammunition (Amendment) Act, 1996 (Act 519), s.2]"

Thanks to the humanitarian and nationalistic instincts of some lawyers, it didn't even take a day for us to be educated on this law which only allows for a maximum of 5 years instead of the 10 that was handed down to the accused.

My point, unless the accused was charged on something different then the ruling hinges on pure illegality and is a clear case of miscarriage of justice, in my view.

The second issue of illegality that might have come up from the 'high speed trial' is that when an accused person pleads not guilty in court, the  nature of our judicial system puts the burden of proof on the prosecution based on the 'innocent until proven guilty' principle, as enshrined in Article 19 (2c) of our constitution which says that any person accused of a criminal offence is  'presumed to be innocent until he is proved or has pleaded guilty' ( Article 19(2c) of 1992 Constitution).

It is thus the duty of the court to ensure that he's been given the right to a fair trial including a fair amount of time to put together facilities that might ensure his defense in court as captured in 19(2e) which states the accused "be given adequate time and facilities for the preparation of this defense'.

As we know, this was not followed. We are told in news reports that the honorable judge after hearing the ‘not guilty’ plea of the accused went ahead and started questioning him until he made the confession which is wrongly seen as canceling his earlier plea.

By this, Mr. Antwi was robbed of his constitutional right of 19(2e).

Still on this point, In an interview on the Super Morning Show on JOY FM, Kojo Yankson, the host, posed intelligent and probing questions to the ace legal practitioner, Prof. Ken Attafuah who condemned the fact that the judge did not hasten slowly in passing his judgement. So, at least my layman's opinion is not farfetched at all.

You know what's dangerous? The Judge's refusal to hasten slowly in passing sentence sacrificed certain vital information that could have been helpful to the prosecution, assuming the accused was mentally sound.

By this, accomplices, if any, are still on the loose and the person who might have given the accused the said gun is also free from the claws of the law.

My other reservation on this trial which isn’t so much about illegality is the sad issue of the mental state of the accused.

It is sad that the innocent appeal of a lawyer friend of the court after hearing the account of the accused in court that he be given psychiatric check and treatment was rejected by the judge.

Apparently, the Judge wasn't satisfied that the accused had mental issues. Again, if the court had hastened slowly as Prof. Attafuah pointed out, the court would have benefitted from the latter account of the brother of the accused who claims to have proved to the BNI that his brother was indeed mentally challenged from several sources as captured in a news account on MYJOYONLINE.COM.

What really worries me is that if indeed Mr. Antwi is mentally challenged, don't we think we are being unfair to him as well as putting the lives of the many prisoners in danger by keeping him in a regular prison instead of a mental correctional facility?