EDMUND ADDO vs. THE REPUBLIC

The AccusedApplicant, Edmund Addo, was arrested on charges of defilement and child pornography involving a 14-year-old child victim. Devices including an HP laptop and Samsung mobile phone were seized from him, believed to contain incriminating videos and photographs of sexual encounters with the child victim. The Police sought to access the contents of these devices for forensic examination. The AccusedApplicant contested this, citing breaches of his rights to privacy and fair trial, and alleging that the Police had already accessed the devices unlawfully. The Human Rights Court had previously ruled that the Police's actions constituted a breach of rights and ordered the devices to be deposited in court, which the Police delayed in complying with. The lower Circuit Court granted the Police authority to access the devices for forensic examination, leading to the AccusedApplicant's application to stay execution of that order.

Background [1] This is an application to stay execution of the orders of the Circuit Court granting the Police authority to access the contents of an HP Lap Top Computer and a Samsung Mobile Phone (devices) seized from the Accused-Applicant for forensic examination. The devices are believed to contain videos and photographs of the Accused-Applicant and a Child-Victim, taken during sexual encounters between them. From the fact s, the Police Investigators have reasonable grounds to believe that the devices were used in uploading the said videos and photographs on to the intenet by the Accused-Applicant. [2] The lower court observed that when the Accused-Applicant was arrested, the devices were seized from him, despite his protestations. The Police tried assiduously to access the devices but an application to the Human Rights Division of the High Court (J-luman Rights Couti) resulted in an injunction against the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the Attorney-General (AG) to deposit...