Christian Atsu pays for release of prisoners

Crime Check Foundation (CCF), a Prison NGO, with support from Christian Atsu, Black Stars Midfielder has paid the court fine for the release of 10 petty offenders from the Cape Coast Prison Annex.

The exercise is part of the Foundation's Petty Offenders Fund Project launched a month ago to facilitate the release of inmates' sentence on petty crimes.

Mr Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng, the Executive Director of CCF, told the GNA after the exercise that the Fund was been managed by a board of competent trustees to support the payment of fines imposed on 'our brothers and sisters languishing in jail.'

'We believe such an intervention will go a long way to decongest the prisons," he added.

He said "go home and sin no more" perhaps represented their parting gift considering the nature of their offences.

Mr Kwarteng, who is also an Ambassador Extraordinaire of Prisons, said crimes ranging from the stealing of a traditional stick, discarded aluminium and banana among others should not warrant prison sentences.

He said these people should have been cleaning the streets and desilting choked and smelly gutters, but the country chose to keep them in prison and spend the taxpayer's money on them.

He commended the Newcastle Midfielder for collaborating with CCF on the Petty Offenders Fund Project and said the Midfielder would again support the release of 40 more inmates by the end of the month.

---GNA