Ghana - January 2024

On 24 January, the High Court in Accra concluded Ghana’s first treason trial since 1966, convicting six people of high treason and sentencing them to death by hanging. Three others who had been charged were found not guilty. All nine co-defendants had pleaded not guilty. The group was accused of plotting to overthrow the Ghanaian government in 2019. They were arrested in 2019 in a large police operation that also seized a cache of firearms, ammunition, and three grenades. Three of those convicted were members of the armed forces. Ghana has not carried out an execution since 1993, and abolished capital punishment for most crimes in August 2023 while leaving open the possibility to impose the death penalty in cases of treason.

Sources: Africa News, Africa Report, British Broadcasting Corporation, The Guardian