The Dean of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC), Professor Vladimir Antwi-Danso, has said any move to arrest the leaders of the Arise Ghana pressure group due to the violence that characterized Day 1 of the demonstration on Tuesday June 28, will rather heighten tension in the system.
He said the Police should not make any arrest right now.
His comment comes on the back of notice served the by the police to the arise ghana conveners detailing intended arrest
“..the Ghana Police Service has served notice all organisers of Tuesday’s demonstration by Arise Ghana will be arrested and arraigned before court”. He said
“In managing the conflict or crises, you will make sure that you don’t exacerbate the situation by some actions. In most places, when you are having such a situation, you have intelligence sources on the ground. Make sure that you set the red line and when they cross the red line you can arrest them. But I strongly suspect that today, right now, this morning, if they arrest the leadership right away it would have created the condition for disturbances so they shouldn’t, they should engage them. Policing is about engagement of the people to understand law abiding so I wont recommend their arrest,” Prof Antwi-Danso said on the New Day show with Berla Mundi on TV3 Wednesday June 29.
The police say they are taking that action as a result of the attacks and damage caused to public property.
The action, according to the law-enforcement agency, is in line with provisions of Section 3 of the Public Order Act, Act 491.
Professor Antwi-Danso believe in the interest of security, peace and order, the police should hold on with any arrest because tendency of escalating the situation is high.
Below is a Copy of the police statement: