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Ghana: My Father is Innocent
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Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
20 March 2008
Posted to the web 20 March 2008
Florence Gbolu
The son of the British Consultant, Thomas Allan Tichler, who was convicted for sexually assaulting a 3year old girl, has asked the Ghanaian authorities to treat his father fairly and not to condemn him as though he were a criminal.
James Tichler has thus appealed to Ghanaians to assess his father's side of the case objectively before running into conclusions.
Addressing a press conference in Accra, the 27year old, said his father had suffered verbal abuse and has been humiliated and assaulted by the father of the little girl, his host, who invited him to his home.
The UK-based civil servant stated explicitly that his father has never been accused, suspected, let alone been convicted of any sexual offence before.
For that reason, he said his father has directed his lawyers to appeal against the 4year sentence handed down to him.
"My father, Mr. Thomas Allan Tichler insists he is innocent and says that he is a victim of a miscarriage of justice" James Tichler emphasized.
James, who happens to be the eldest son of Mr.Tichler, said his father was prejudged before he was sent to court.
He argued further that while the case was pending before the court, the Attorney General, Mr. Joe Ghartey, personally granted an interview to a journalist in which he prejudiced the judicial proceedings, adding that a picture from his father's passport, which was in police custody, was also leaked to the media.
"I have been utterly bewildered and shocked by this amazing turn of events. I agree that all sexual crimes against children should be dealt with severely after being properly investigated and evidence fairly assessed in court, but what has happened to me in this case fell short of a proper investigation" he said.
He pressed further that his 57 year old father will totally deplore any sexual assault on such a little girl as he did no such thing. "My dad came to Ghana to do good but have ended up being seriously wronged and the Attorney General's Department has already appealed for an enhanced sentence", he noted.
According to him, right from the day the incident broke, his father has indicated his willingness to submit himself for a forensic examination, because if he was guilty he would have debris under his fingernails.
"He specifically asked the doctor who examined him to take swabs. The Police Hospital where he was taken for examination, however, said that they had no forensic expert. This crucial and key item of evidence for his defence was lost" Tichler noted.
On the day of his arrest, junior Tichler said his father was pushed and dragged on the floor into a waiting car by the complainant to the police station.
As a result of this, James said his father got head contusions whilst his vision became blurred.
In the process, he noted that his father's spectacles got bent and his watch broke and fell off.
He held that his father believed that the little girl was coached and told repeatedly that he was a bad man and had interfered with her.
He raised concerns about the line of questioning by the police, when the supposed victim was taken there to testify, since according to him, the girl had no option but to nod her head in agreement to all the questions asked her.
Tichler also protested against the method used by the police during their interrogations, indicating that his father had told the police it was highly irregular.
He was of the view that a 3-year-old can easily be manipulated on what to say when questioned.
He thus expressed concern about the absence of an independent witness since according to him, his father's interests was not being protected as the release of the medical report of the girl was delayed. "It should not have taken long to make it available to the defence lawyer" he added.
As to what may have resulted in blood stains in the genital of the little girl, junior Tichler said there could have been other causes, especially as there were other people in the house of his host that day and an unbiased investigation could have unearthed the truth.
For that matter, he said his father has been made the scapegoat.
James further stated that his father's host managed to lay hold on his (convict) camera which was in police custody and smashed it.
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Later, when his father managed to extract the memory card, he said it was established that it had been wiped of all the data.
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