While the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) is still under pressure to fix the depressing public image it earned after engaging in what many consider as ‘politically motivated’ pestering of opposition politicians, the bureau’s Director, Yaw Donkor, has been dragged to court over charges bordering on gross human right abuses. The BNI Director was jointly sued Tuesday with Betty Mould-Iddrisu, the Attoney General and Minister for Justice, and the two are expected to appear in an Accra High Court on Wednesday July 15th this year to explain why the BNI abused the rights of Sammy Crabbe, the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) when he was recently ordered to report to the bureau. Mr. Crabbe is one of the many NPP politicians who were recently asked to report to the BNI for interrogation but were not allowed their constitutional right to legal counsel. The NPP Regional Chairman was told that he was being called to the BNI for a ‘friendly conversation’, but was threatened with arrest and detention when he insisted that he wanted to have his lawyer present during the ‘friendly conversation’. He was also made to understand that the ‘friendly conversation’ was a compulsory one. Mr. Crabbe is claiming that inviting him to report at the BNI without being told the reason for the invitation and also not allowed his right to a lawyer violates his rights as a citizen of Ghana and amounts to an abuse of office and a denial of due process. He cited Article 14 section 2 of the 1992 constitution which states that “a person who is arrested, restricted or detained shall be informed immediately, in a language that he understands, of the reasons for his arrest, restriction or detention and of his right to a lawyer of his choice,” and said he would be seeking a perpetual injunction from the courts to get the BNI to respect the above constitutional requirement. The NPP Chairman said on reaching the BNI offices with his lawyer, their mobile phones and all other communication equipment were taken from them and then they were driven to another BNI facility for the interrogation. The statement of claim noted: “When I demanded to be accompanied by my Lawyer, the officer refused and told us that it was the Respondent’s standard practice to deny suspects’ right to Lawyers during such an interrogation which is termed 'a friendly' chat. I was therefore compelled to accompany him alone after several minutes of protestations by my Lawyer as we were again informed that our right to refuse the “friendly chat” is also denied. “I was escorted through a metal gate into a room where officers of the Respondents restricted and interrogated me on Ghana International Airline Limited issues for sometime and later allowed me to go home but with orders to return another time.” During a similar invitation from the BNI to the former Foreign Minister, Akwasi Osei-Adjei, his passport was confiscated under circumstances legal pundits say is unacceptable by law. Mr. Osei-Adjei has also sued the BNI for seizing his passport and denying his freedom of movement in and out of Ghana. Former Chief Of Staff, Kwadwo Mpiani, was also denied his right to legal counsel when he was invited to report to the BNI recently. His lawyers claim they were put in a room, four doors away from where Mr. Mpiani was being questioned. Source: Daily Guide