Monday, October 18, 2010
123 Condemned Prisoners On Death Roll In Ghana
By Naa Korkoi Essah
There are 123 condemned prisoners on death roll in the country�s prison, the Chief Public Relations Officer of the Prisons Service, Courage Atsem has disclosed.
Speaking to the Times in Accra yesterday, he said the last time condemned prisons were executed was in 1993 when 19 were hanged.
�Since then, no prisoner has been executed because succeeding heads of state have not appended their signature to their sentences,� he added.
Mr. Atsem said the condemned prisoners are part of the prisoners entrusted to the care of the Prisons Service. The service therefore has no responsibility to ask for their execution until government gives the go ahead.
�It is only the president who can sign their death sentence forms authorising their execution. �Until then they are here for safe keeping and we are doing just that,� he said and added that although they are condemned prisoners, they are human beings with rights that must be protected.
Source: The Ghanaian Times