A defence witness in the trial of Fashion model Ibrahim Sima is challenging the validity of the Ghana Standards Board’s test that claims the substance found on sima is cocaine. Ibrahim Sima was arrested on September 8, 2009, for allegedly attempting to export substances suspected to be narcotics outside the country. The witness, Prof Brown Acquaye, who said he had worked for the Standards Board for over 20 years, questioned the methods used in arriving at the conclusion that the substance found on Ibrahim Sima was cocaine. According to him, the officers of the Narcotics Control Board who arrested the suspect breached procedures of testing suspicious substances. He argued that by the standard procedure, the substances ought to have been tested instantly to determine what the composition of the substance was. The prosecutor, a Principal State Attorney, George Kojo Ofori, countered that the procedure was adhered to. Prof Brown Acquaye also questioned why the police decided to take the substance to the GSB for testing and not the Police Forensic Laboratory because that lab is well equipped to test and analyse the substances found on the Exopa boss. Joy News’ Cyrus de Graft Johnson who sat through the court proceedings, reported that when the prosecution felt uncomfortable about the witness’ testimony and tried to interject, Prof Acquaye retorted, “be cool, you are not a scientist, let me say what I know.” The defence counsel at today’s sitting closed its case after its last witness, the watchman for Ibrahim Sima. Source: Joy News/Ghana