CROWD PROTESTS BAIL FOR TAMALE SUSPECTS (PAGE 3)

A large crowd of people yesterday besieged the premises of the Tamale Circuit Court to protest against the granting of bail to suspects who are alleged to have been involved in the recent Tamale disturbances.
The protesters, who said they were not happy with the ruling by the court, threatened not to leave the premises of the court or allow the suspects to be taken out of the area.
It later took a security re-enforcement that included the military to clear the area for sanity to prevail.
All 18 suspects, who had been in prison custody since their arrest on February 17, 2009, were granted bail to reappear on March 26, 2009.
The court was presided over by Justice John Nabrase.
Fifteen of the suspects were arrested for their alleged involvement in the arson that followed the clashes, while the rest were apprehended for possessing arms.
The suspects had earlier appeared before the court on February 19, 2009 when they were remanded in prison custody to reappear yesterday.
According to the protesters, once some of the suspects had been arrested with guns, it was not proper for them to be granted bail, since that could send wrong signals to their colleagues.
“This is the reason we have recurrent violence in the north. When people are arrested with such offensive weapons, they must be made to pay a heavy price to serve as a deterrent to ensure sustainable peace in the area,” one of the protesters, Ibrahim Hardi, opined.
However, an eyewitness of the proceedings, Baba Abu, indicated, “I do not understand the reason for the protest because the case has not been concluded. The suspects have only been granted bail to reappear on a later date.”
A social misunderstanding between some butchers at the Tamale Central Market in the evening of February 17, 2009 later degenerated into political violence between some supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
One person died, while several others sustained various degrees of injury in the clash. There was also destruction of property through arson.