Samuel Adu Frimpong, alias “Medikal,” a popular rapper, has been remanded into prison custody by an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly displaying a Ruger 9mm pistol on social media.
He has since denied the unlawful act of displaying arms and ammunitions and was ordered to be brought back to court on October 26, 2021.
Giving the facts, Police Chief Inspector Dennis Terkpertey told the Court presided over by Mr Emmanuel Essandoh that in September 2021, the accused person displayed the Ruger 9mm pistol on social media.
He said on September 26, the video of the musician displaying the gun went viral, stating that on October 21, 2021, based on intelligence, Medikal was arrested.
Prosecution said he admitted the offence in his cautioned statement.
Mr Emmanuel Yeboah, his counsel, in pleading for bail, said the accused, a known musician, was booked to perform in Obuasi and Sunyani at the weekend, he lived in Ghana and had nowhere else to go and was prepared to stand trial.
He was arrested by the CID on October 21, 2021 and had already spent a night in police custody. A married man and a father, he had people of substance (his manager, mother and wife) to stand as sureties and above all, they were prepared to satisfy all bail conditions, counsel noted.
Mr Yeboah prayed the Court that his client was law-abiding and had never had a brush with the law neither was his actions a threat to anyone and for that matter, there was no complainant except the Police.
He opined that the prosecution’s defence would only be that they were still investigating the case, saying the offence was a misdemeanor but prayed that the Court only used its discretionary power to grant the bail.
The prosecution objected to the bail application and said the musician was too powerful that when granted bail, he would interfere with investigations, adding that in the interest of fair trial, he should be remanded so that all the facts would be put before the Court for determination to be made.
Counsel rebutted that Prosecution only wanted to use the denial of bail as punishment.
Mr Emmanuel Essandoh, after listening to Prosecution and Counsel for the accused, stated that as popular as “Medikal” was, he went out of control, adding that just as a child needed the soft hands of its mother, it also needed the hard ones of the father, hence, he asked him to be kept in custody for five days.
He said that “behaviour” was the new wind blowing in the country and needed to be curbed to protect the public, stressing that as much as the individual had the right to liberty, the public was also equally important.
There was a heavy security presence as family and fans thronged the place to show their unflinching support. They covered him to prevent the media from taking pictures and making videos of him.