Advertisement
Desktop970x250
3News
Advertisement
Desktop970x250

4 Russian, Ukranian ‘galamseyers’ get GH¢200,000 bail each

By Steven Effah
SHARE
3 min read
4 Russian, Ukranian ‘galamseyers’ get GH¢200,000 bail each
Two of the four expatriates arrested by the minister of Lands and Natural Resources

The four Russians and Ukranians arrested in the Ashanti Region for engaging in small scale mining without appropriate licences, have each been granted GHC200,000 by the Circuit Court in Accra.

In addition to the bail amount, each of them is to provide one surety who must be a Ghanaian national in full employment or trade, TV3’s Selorm Amenya reports.

They are also to deposit their passport with the court registrar and present themselves to the CID every two weeks.

The case has been adjourned to July 11, 2017

Counsel for the four, Emmanuel K Darko, put in the bail application on May 31, but the application was opposed by the prosecution which pleaded with the court to remand them to enable the police to complete its investigations.

The court presided over by Aboagye Tandoh fixed June 14 to allow the police to complete investigations, and also to rule on the bail application.

At the court’s sitting Wednesday, the judge said he was inclined to grant the accused persons bail considering that they have demonstrated their willingness to avail themselves for prosecution.

Farid Isaer, Vadim Potokia, and Serhii Chepurniy all engineers and Genadiy Ruber, Site Manager have pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy to commit crime and undertaking small scale mining without licence.

The facts of the case as presented by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Cletus Abadamlora was that the complainant is a Police Officer attached to the Lands and Forestry Ministry, While the accused persons are foreigners from Russia and Ukraine and residents of Tontokrom in the Ashanti Region.

He said the Minister for Lands and Forestry recently gave an ultimatum to all small scale mining companies and illegal miners popularly known as ‘galamseyers’ operating within the country to stop activities till their operations are regularised.

The prosecution said government thus banned any form of small scale mining in the country until further notice.

He told the court that on May 22, the Minister and a team including the complainant went on a fact finding mission ascertain whether the ban was being complied with at Manso Tontokrom.

DSP Abadamlora said the team met the accused persons using heavy duty equipment which had degraded a vast land thereby destroying farm crops and cocoa farms of the inhabitants and also polluted their source of drinking water.

He said the accused persons were then arrested upon which they said they were employees of Geo Professional Services (GPS), a mining company.

By editors.3news.com|Ghana

Sign up to The Daily Briefing

Stay informed with the most relevant stories shaping Ghana and the world, every morning and evening.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

Share This Article

Steven Effah is a writer with 3news.com. Follow him on X, @effah-steven and LinkedIn: Steven Effah

Advertisement
Desktop300x250

Up Next

Advertisement
Desktop970x250