2 British coke girls jailed 1 year each

January 24, 2008 (Page 3 Lead)

THE Juvenile Court in Accra yesterday sentenced two British juveniles to one year imprisonment each for possessing six kilogrammes of cocaine.
Yasemin Vatasever and Yetunde Diya, both 16, are to begin serving their sentences from July 18, 2007, the day on which they were remanded in custody by the court.
Yasemin and Yetunde, whose faces were covered with cloths to shield them from anxious foreign and local media, were whisked away to begin their sentences, a greater part of which has already been served.
According to sources close to the case, which was heard in camera, the juvenile convicts would serve their sentences at the Mamobi Juvenile Detention Centre in Accra, after which they would be sent to Britain.
The two were convicted by the court on November 21, 2007 after they had been found guilty of conspiracy and possessing narcotic drugs without lawful authority, but sentencing was deferred to December 5, 2007.
On December 5, 2008, the court had to defer sentencing again because it had not received the social services report on the girls. It then deferred sentencing to Wednesday, January 9, 2008.
At the court’s sitting in Accra on January 9, 2008, it emerged that the Department of Social Welfare had received the report on the girls on Monday, January 7, and an official of the department, therefore, prayed the court to adjourn the case for two weeks to enable the department to thoroughly study the report before advising the court appropriately.
The trial judge then warned that the court would not countenance any excuses on the next adjourned date.
The report was expected to give a profile and background on the juveniles from the British authorities.
A third accused person, Florina Rotario, 20, who was arrested along with the girls, is, however, standing trial in a separate court because she is not a juvenile.
Florina, who is currently on remand, is standing trial at the Greater Accra Regional Tribunal.
The trial was heard in camera because the law does not permit cases involving juveniles to be heard in open court. That did not, however, take away its intense public attention.
In all, seven prosecution witnesses and one defence witness were said to have testified in the trial which lasted about four months.
The girls pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy and possession of narcotic drugs without lawful authority and maintained that they were lured into Ghana by two men who left them to their fate.
They were arrested at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) on July 2, 2007 by officials of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB).
Each had in her possession three kilogrammes of cocaine hidden in her laptop bag.
At the last sitting of the court, lawyers of the girls declared their intention to appeal against the convictions.