The Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Republic of Ghana, Gdfred Yeboah Dame has stated that his outfit would appeal the sentence given to Chinese national and illegal mining kingpin Aisha Huang at the Appeal Court.
In press a statement released on Tuesday, November 5 2023, Mr Yeboah Dame indicated that while it acknowledges the efficiency of the justice delivery system witnessed in the trial of Aisha Huang trial, it will however test the ‘soundness’ of the decision of the trial court to punish the accused person under Act 900, by filing an appeal at the Court of Appeal, against the sentence given by the High Court.
According to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Yeboah Dame the appeal process would ensure that the new sentencing regime which is imposed by Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019 (Act 995) is applied to the accused person, Aisha Huang.
Mr Yeboah Dame further expressed his appreciation for the relatively swift and timely dispensation of justice in the Aisha Huang case and indicated that the swift and timely dispensation of justice in the Aisha Huang case underscores the state’s commitment to punish persons involved in the activities of illegal mining in the country.
A-G Warns Public Against Misleading Comments On Aisha Huang’s Sentence
Furthermore, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame cautioned the general public against making misleading commentaries on the sentence given to the Chinese national, Aisha Huang by the High Court.
According to him, commentaries from the public that are not borne out of the facts on the Aisha Huang case could thwart the administration of justice in the country as well as undermine the country’s fight against illegal mining (galamsey).
Explaining the sentence by the judge, Mr Yeboah Dame highlighted that the legislation that was in place at the time Aisha Huang committed the offences of undertaking a mining operation without a licence and facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation without a licence from February 2015 – May 2017 was the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2015 (Act 900).
He noted that the Mineral and Mining (Amendment ) Act, 2015 (Act 900) mandates a fine of not more than ‘three thousand penalty units’ or a ‘term of imprisonment of not more than five years’ or both and it was based on such reference that the judge thus because the accused had already spent more than one year in custody, sentenced her into four-and-a-half-year prison term and GH₵48,000 fine.
Morover, Mr Yeboah Dame explained that the judge considered the fact that the offences of undertaking a mining operation without a licence and facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation without a licence with which Aisha Huang, the accused was charged, were committed between February 2015 and May 2017.
According to him, at the time the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995), which imposes a punishment of a minimum of twenty (20) years in prison for a non-Ghanaian together with a fine of between one hundred thousand penalty units and three hundred and fifty thousand penalty units, had not been passed, hence the decision by the trial judge to apply the previous sentence regime.
Mr Yeboah Dame emphasized that in the view of the trial judge, Article 19(6) of the Constitution prohibits a penalty from being imposed for a criminal offence that is severe in degree or description than the maximum penalty that could have been imposed for that offence at the time that it was committed.
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