One of five freed soldiers picked up again

One of five soldiers discharged by an Accra Human Rights Court has been re-arrested by the Military Police.

Sergeant Michael Arthur was rearrested on Tuesday night.

The soldier was picked up last month together with four other colleagues - Sergeants Richard Somuah and Lamptey Hazel, and Corporals Charles Ankomah and Emmanuel Antwi – in connection with the murder of the former Deputy Managing Director of the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), Rokko Frempong.

The arrest of the five soldiers sparked off protest from their wives who demanded their immediate release.

The Human Rights Division of an Accra Fast Track High Court on Tuesday consequently ordered the immediate release of all five officers.

The trial judge, Mrs Irene Danquah, described the action of the Military Police and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) in detaining them at an undisclosed location as a flagrant abuse of the soldiers' human rights.

It is not clear why Sergeant Arthur was the only one rearrested but his lawyer, Joe Aboagye Debrah, has told Joy News his client's arrest was expected as the court's decision on Tuesday was only “a process of discharge [and] not a process of acquittal.”

The lawyer said his client expects due process to be followed during the course of the arrest.