British High Commissioner Jon
Benjamin has debunked media reports indicating that jailed cocaine trafficker
Nayele Ametefe will be repatriated to Ghana as part of a prisoner swap deal
with the UK.
‘No it is not true’ he denied a
Daily Guide report.
The Ghana and UK governments signed
a prisoner swap deal last Thursday. The deal will allow for the transfer of
nationals of both countries who have committed crimes to serve their sentences
in their homeland.
According to a Daily Guide report,
Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine signed the deal on behalf of Ghana.
This makes Ghana the first country in West Africa to reach such terms with the
U.K.
The Ghana Parliament passed the
“2007 Convicted Prisoners Act” but the law is only implementable after Ghana
signs a bilateral agreement with another country. A deal has been agreed with
the UK but will need ratification.
Daily Guide inferred that the
Ghanaian/Austrian Nayele Ametefe who has been sentenced to eight years, eight
months’ imprisonment is set to benefit uner the new arrangement.
Nayele also known as Ruby Adu-Gyamfi
pleaded guilty to carrying 12 kilos of cocaine to the United Kingdom and was
jailed in January 2015.
But Jon Benjamin told Joy News the
new deal does not take retrospective effect.
“Her case is not within the remit of
the agreement” he said
He revealed none of the 115 Ghanaian
prisoners in the UK stands to benefit when the deal comes into force.
He added that six British prisoners
languishing in Ghana’s prisons do not stand to benefit either.
He explained that once the two
governments agree on which prisoners to swap, the prisoners involved have no
option than the return to their respective countries.
Source: myjoyonline.com
Comments