The Human Rights Court has ordered the Director of Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and the Attorney-General to produce Mr Justin Kone Katinan, Spokesperson for Mr Laurent Gbagbo, the immediate past Ivorian leader.
Granting an application for habeas corpus filed on behalf of Mr Katinan by his lawyer, Mr Patrick Sogbodjor, the court gave the BNI Director and the Attorney-General up to August 31, 2012 to explain why the former spokesperson should be held in continuous detention.
Since his arrest at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) by BNI operatives shortly on arrival from Johannesburg, South Africa on Friday, August 24,2012, Mr Katinan has been in detention at the Greater Accra Regional BNI Offices, near the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.
Mr Justin Kone Katinan was picked up together with Ms Lucie Bourchouymieux, an Ivorian lawyer, who accompanied him from Johannesburg, South Africa to Ghana. Ms Bourchouymieux was, however, released later.
A statement signed by a Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said Mr Katinan’s arrest was based on a warrant issued by the Ivorian authorities on August 16, 2012.
The statement said President John Dramani Mahama, in accordance with the Ghanaian Constitution, had since asked the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to study the extradition instruments and advise accordingly.
According to Mr Katinan’s lawyer, no reason had been assigned for the arrest and detention of his client.
He said Mr Katinan had been registered as a refugee and had been living in Ghana under that status since April 13, 2011 to date.
He has been travelling in and out of the country until his arrest.
President Gbagbo appointed Katinan his spokesman following his own arrest in April, last year and subsequent extradition to stand trial at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
Thousands of Gbagbo loyalists fled to Ghana after the fall of his regime, following the post-election conflict in which some 3,000 people were killed.
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