In a new legal development, the State has filed fresh charges against Oliver Barker-Vormawor,Oliver Barker-Vormawor, the leader of Democracy Hub, an activist group protesting illegal mining, also known as galamsey. This comes after the State revised its initial case against him during court proceedings on Thursday.
Barker-Vormawor was originally charged with allegedly stealing the keys to a police towing vehicle. However, Senior State Attorney Nana Ama Adinkra informed the court of changes to the charge sheet, replacing the initial accusation with a new one.
According to the updated charge sheet, the State has dropped the theft accusation and instead charged Barker-Vormawor with “intentionally turning off the ignition of a police towing truck.” Four individuals who were linked to the case, including Cedric Bansah, Emmanuel Offei, Nana Amo Mensah Prempeh, and Thomas Yeboah, have now been discharged, as the charges against them have been withdrawn.
Despite the dropped charges, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, along with eight others, still faces multiple legal battles. The group is being charged with offenses including conspiracy, unlawful assembly, causing unlawful damage, offensive conduct likely to breach the peace, and assault on a public officer. All have pleaded not guilty and remain out on bail.
These charges are connected to an earlier event in which police arrested 53 members of Democracy Hub, alleging misconduct during a protest against illegal mining activities.
The Circuit Court in Accra had previously discharged seven other protesters. On Thursday, October 24, four more were released after the charges against them were officially dropped.
