POS Foundation has facilitated for the release of Fourteen, (14) inmates at the Sunyani Prisons after an in-prison court sitting as part of the government Justice for all programme.
At the end of the in-prison court sitting, 4 persons were convicted, 3 were imprisoned, 1 fined and 30 inmates were granted bail.
Responding to assertions that the Justice for all Programme releases criminals who come out to commit more crime, Chairman of the Justice for All Programme, Justice Clemence Honyenuga stated that the programme only deals with cases of remand prisoners who qualify and not convicts hence the false claims should be disregarded.Â
Justice Clemence Honyenuga also commended the Sunyani Judicial Service for their immense contribution to the success of the sitting every year.
According to the Executive Director of POS Foundation - facilitators of the Justice for all programme, Jonathan Osei Owusu indicated that much as the programme is reducing the remand population in Ghana, more needs to be done to decongest prisons looking at cases of those convicted.
He, therefore, reiterated POS Foundation's readiness for the zero draft policy (non-custodial sentencing policy) that will ensure that petty offenders are made to provide some services to the state than to be cast behind bars.Â
POS Foundation, facilitators of the Justice for all Programme is an NGO that promotes Human Rights, Youth Development and Social Accountability and has legally existed under the laws of Ghana since 2005. POS Foundation in 2014 had the franchise by the Judicial Service to facilitate the Justice for all Programme by providing legal aid to remand inmates.
Currently, POS Foundation has prepared and filed 79 applications (motions and affidavits) on behalf of the eligible remand prisoners.