Miracles Aboagye's GH¢50 million bail conditions weren't impossible to meet — Kwesi Pratt Jr.
Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jr., has stated that the bail conditions imposed on Dennis Miracles Aboagye by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) were not impossible to meet.
Miracles Aboagye was arrested at the Accra International Airport on Saturday, July 11, upon his return from a trip abroad.
EOCO has said he and former IMCCoD accountant Gerald Appiah are being investigated over alleged offences including conspiracy to steal, stealing, causing financial loss to the state, money laundering and other financial crimes involving about GH¢55 million.
On Monday, he was granted bail of GH¢50 million with three sureties, two of whom must be be justified, a condition his lawyer, Samuel Atta Akyea, described as impossible to meet.
However, speaking on Accra-based Metro TV's Breakfast Daily programme on Wednesday, the veteran journalist argued that the successful execution of the bail conditions undermined claims that they were unattainable.
"The facts before us now clearly suggest that it was not difficult to meet, and that in the same night these conditions were met. So the suggestion that these are impossible conditions to meet collapses because they have been met, and they were met that same night," he stated.
Kwesi Pratt said while Atta Akyea may have genuinely believed the conditions would be difficult to satisfy at the time he made the comments, the outcome showed otherwise.
The veteran journalist further explained that bail conditions are imposed for specific legal reasons and are intended to ensure that accused persons comply with the terms of their release.
"Bail conditions are imposed in order to serve as a deterrent to persons who may want to jump bail... The bail is not imposed fancifully. There are reasons why bail conditions are imposed," he explained.