Five people, who claimed to be movie actors, producers and a make-up artiste, have been arraigned before an Accra Circuit Court for possession of arm and ammunition, as well as possession of security accoutrements without lawful authority.
They are Felix Carl Hagoe, movie actor, Francis Torsu, producer, Adegor Sagin Simonet, producer, Maxwell Akwasi Amuni, actor, and Ismail Adanse, make-up artiste.
The accused persons were arrested at Oyibi in the Greater Accra Region by a police patrol team, and items allegedly retrieved from them were one locally manufactured pistol, military, and police accoutrements.
The accused persons have all pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against them and were remanded by the Circuit Court ‘9’, presided over by Samuel Bright Acquah.
Mr. Acquah remanded the accused persons to reappear before him on December 5, 2022.
The accused were presented to the court by the Prosecuting Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Maxwell Oppong, yesterday.
BRIEF FACTS
According to the prosecutor, the complainants in the case are police officers from the Greater Accra Regional Police Headquarters.
He said the first accused (A1), Felix Carl Hagoe, claims he is an actor and resident of Taifa, and similar claims were made by Francis Torsu (A2), who said he is a film producer and resident of Dodowa, Adegor Sagin Simonet (A3), a film producer and resident of Kasoa, Maxwell Akwasi Amuni (A4), an actor and resident of Galilea, Kasoa, and Ismail Adanse (A5), a make-up artiste and resident of Kasoa.
He informed the court that on November 24, 2022, at about 8:15pm, the police received information that some occupants of a blue Hyundai Tucson and a red Hyundai Elantra respectively were in possession of weapons, sets of Military and Police uniform.
ASP Oppong added that a Police Patrol Team around Oyibi was dispatched to the scene and intercepted the vehicles with the accused persons on board.
He indicated that a search conducted on the vehicles led to the retrieval of a locally manufactured pistol in a bag allegedly belonging to Felix Carl Hagoe.
Additionally, 13 sets of military uniform, three sets of police uniform, six police vests, three police berets, one replica AK 47 rifle, and six replica pistols were also found in the vehicles.
He added that the accused persons could not tell the police how they came by the military and police accouterments.
The prosecutor alleged that the accused claimed in their statements to the police that they were film actors, producers and make-up artiste respectively, and were acting a film.
He said the accused persons were arraigned before the court, the replica weapons had been sent to the Police Forensic Crime Laboratory for examination to ascertain whether the weapon were lethal and capable of inflicting fatal wounds.
Arguments
Counsel for the accused persons, Yaw Danquah, urged the court to grant his clients bail, as they would not interfere with the witness or police investigations and have fixed places of abode.
He said the accused persons were not flight risks, and that they were responsible and this was their first time ever coming in contact with the law.
According to him, the locally manufactured gun belonged to the first accused’s grandfather and it could not fire any ammunition.
Secondly, he said the accused persons informed the police that they bought the uniform material from the market and sewed it purposely for acting a film.
Thirdly, he argued that two of the accused persons were not arrested by the police, but went to police station on their own accord, after three of their colleagues were arrested.
He again argued that the replica AK-47 found on the accused were toy guns sold in the open market.
Lawyer Danquah stated that the police, knowing very well that their case would fall flat on the ground, refused to add a camera exhibit that they found on the accused persons, which had recordings of evidences of the day.
He said even if the court found Felix Carl Hagoe guilty on the count of possession of firearm and ammunition, the maximum sentence he would serve would not be more than five years, while the others would be sentenced to a fine of 250 penalty units or 12 months imprisonment.
The prosecution, on the other hand, said there was concrete evident that the locally manufactured weapon was a serviceable gun that could fire AA or BB ammunition.
He added that security services’ uniforms were restricted so much that even a retired police officer had no right to wear it.
According to him, if even the accused persons were using the items to act a movie, as they claimed, they need a police escort in order to ensure that the items were safely returned.
He added that the ordinary citizen may not be in the position to distinguish between the uniforms that the accused persons claimed to have procured from the open market, and that of the security agencies.
ASP Oppong further stated that the same thing applies to the supposed toy gun, which can be used to commit a crime, particularly under the cover of the night.
The claimed against the 5 accused persons are false, they were reminded for 1 week and was granted bail on their second appearance court. They had video evidence and people that proved they were actually film markers, yes the police seized one of their cameras but they also had another camera containing all actions involving the said production. The military uniforms was bought at kantamanto and the guns were toys all these are known in film production as props, the five accused person had solid evidence to back their claim. Journalist paaaaaa
They were actually film markers and was granted bail upon next appearance in court. Looking at the date of publish till today there’s no more news to report about them because the case was discharged. Making it clear, when police arrested Ismael and Francis on their way to buy food they refused to give them bribe meanwhile the props was inside that car so they used it against them but failed in court
Things like this happens to film makers especially when they are trying to act smart by filming without sending a letter to the police to inform them about the props involved in the production. I know some that was arrested for similar issue but they settled and was released on location