Detained Abu Trica reportedly hospitalised, lawyer threatens habeas corpus over denied access
Lawyer and activist Oliver Barker-Vormawor says his client, Frederick Kumi, has been rushed to the Police Hospital amid claims that his legal team has been denied access to him for more than a week.
The development comes days after the Accra High Court ordered Abu Trica's extradition to the United States over allegations of involvement in an $8 million romance scam.
His legal team has since been pursuing applications to stay the extradition, with the High Court scheduled to hear the matter on July 10 following an expedited hearing date.
Mr. Barker-Vormawor, who has repeatedly complained about not knowing his client's whereabouts since the extradition ruling, said the latest development has heightened concerns over Abu Trica's welfare and access to legal representation.
"I have just found out from sources at the Police Hospital that Abu Trica has been rushed to the hospital," Mr. Barker-Vormawor wrote in a social media post on Wednesday, July 8.
He alleged that despite being Abu Trica's lawyer, he and his legal team have been unable to meet or communicate with their client since he was taken into custody following the extradition ruling.
"It has been over a week; we haven't been allowed access to Abu Trica as lawyers; and our request for him to meet him as his lawyers has not been granted," he stated.
The lawyer further claimed that his team does not know where Abu Trica is being held, adding that even INTERPOL officials, who initially had custody of him, had indicated they no longer had him.
Mr. Barker-Vormawor said his legal team would file a habeas corpus application on Thursday if the state continued to deny their client access to legal counsel, arguing that such access is a fundamental constitutional right.