Private legal practitioner Samson Lardy Anyenini has raised serious concerns about the police response to the assault of award-winning journalist, Erastus Asare Donkor and his team who were covering illegal mining, also known as galamsey, activities.

Mr Anyenini who is also the host of JoyNews’ Newsfile described the attack as a near-fatal incident, and criticised the leniency shown by law enforcement toward the perpetrators.

“There appears to be a lie in the narrative. Journalists were almost killed. And let’s be frank about it, they were just lucky—God saved them.

“These armed men marched them into the bush, heckled, and beat them. What these armed men did was kidnapping. If it doesn’t get any more serious than that, what else should?"

Read also: We want justice and our equipment returned - Erastus Asare Donkor

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, the lawyer questioned the police’s response to the attack, which involved granting police inquiry bail to three suspects who had surrendered.

“These are people who were involved in galamsey and they were armed. They assaulted journalists, so I don’t understand why immediately they granted Police inquiry bail to these attackers the way they did,” Samson said on Tuesday.

He expressed disbelief at the police’s approach, emphasising that in a serious case such as this, the standard legal procedure should have required the suspects to be arraigned in court within 48 hours.

“If you [police] say you have filed the case in court and you are waiting for a date, take my word for it, that will be a lie from the pit of hell,” Anyenini said.

According to him, once charges are filed, a court appearance date is automatically assigned, refuting the police’s claim that they are awaiting a date.

He insisted that the proper legal process demands that the suspects appear in court promptly.

Background of the assault

The assault occurred on Sunday, October 20, in Asumenya, a community located in the Amansie South District of the Ashanti Region, where the Multimedia Group crew was investigating the environmental destruction caused by illegal mining activities.

The team, led by Erastus Asare Donkor, was covering the devastation of farmlands and water bodies in the area.

Their reporting focused on the adverse effects of the mining operations of Edelmetallum Mining Resources Limited, a company linked to Adelaide Tettey as a shareholder, according to the GJA.

While filming, the journalists were accosted by armed thugs allegedly protecting the mining site. The assailants, brandishing pump-action guns, forcibly seized the crew and their equipment.

The armed men then transported the journalists to a remote forest, where they subjected them to a brutal assault. Erastus Asare Donkor and his team suffered severe injuries, including swollen eyes and ear trauma, before being abandoned in the secluded area.

The Multimedia crew managed to report the incident to the Manso Edubia Police Station, where they were provided with medical forms and later sought treatment at Agroyesum Hospital.

The journalists reported that their attackers claimed to be acting on orders from the owner of Edelmetallum Mining Resources Limited.

The Ghana Journalists Association, the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, and many other civil society organisations have since condemned the kidnapping and assault, and have demanded a speedy prosecution of the perpetrators.

In his latest update of what may have become of the criminal case, Erastus said the police are growing cold to the issue, while their equipment which was seized by the suspects remain in their custody.

“Those drone batteries, the tablets, are very expensive for common journalists like us. We bought them with our own money, and we need them back,” he had said when he first recounted the ordeal on radio.

Police actions so far

Upon their release by the gangsters, Erastus said he and his colleagues reported the matter to the local police who confronted but failed to arrest the suspects. The suspects had boldly refused to honour the police invitation and the police appeared helpless.

And when they later reported themselves to the police, they were given bail after their statements were allegedly taken.