{"id":10836,"date":"2025-05-06T10:01:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T10:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=10836"},"modified":"2025-05-06T10:01:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T10:01:35","slug":"he-knew-who-i-was-and-hit-me-anyway-afenyo-markin-demands-justice-after-alleged-police-assault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=10836","title":{"rendered":"\u2018He knew who I was and hit me anyway\u2019 \u2013 Afenyo-Markin demands justice after alleged police assault"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin has accused a uniformed police officer of physically assaulting him at the entrance of Parliament House during Monday\u2019s \u201cSave the Judiciary\u201d protest.<\/p>\n

The Effutu MP described the act as \u201creprehensible and disgraceful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Afenyo-Markin, who led the demonstration with other opposition leaders, recounted how the officer, identified as Constable Forson, struck him deliberately on the left side of his chest, near his heart, as he tried to access Parliament to present a petition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout any provocation, a uniformed police officer stationed behind the barricade\u2014Constable Forson, a tall, fair, heavily built officer\u2014deliberately struck the left side of my chest with the full force of his right palm,\u201d he revealed in a formal statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact of the hit dazed me. I was visibly shaken and short of breath.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The incident, which occurred just as Afenyo-Markin was joining other party officials already granted access, nearly incapacitated him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to lean against the wall at the entrance of Parliament House to prevent myself from collapsing,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cA national service personnel brought me water, and two CID officers assisted me to a nearby restroom, where I lay on a bench to stabilise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Despite his condition, the Effutu MP insisted on continuing with the day\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThough still unwell, I made a deliberate effort to compose myself\u2026 determined not to let the incident create a scene or derail the purpose of our peaceful protest.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Afenyo-Markin, attempts by Parliament\u2019s Deputy Marshal and senior police officers to locate the officer afterwards failed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had mysteriously disappeared from the scene. It is suspected he may have been discreetly removed to avoid scrutiny,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He noted that the officer\u2019s actions were not only aggressive but defiant, even in the face of reprimands from his superiors.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe responded that he didn\u2019t care who I was\u2014Leader or not\u2014and that he would carry out his work regardless.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawmaker expressed outrage at suggestions from critics that he had provoked the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is most unfortunate that some individuals would seek to twist the narrative and suggest that I was the aggressor. I was merely protesting the officer\u2019s conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

While praising the professionalism of officers at the Supreme Court and Jubilee House, who he said even shared water with demonstrators, Afenyo-Markin described the conduct at Parliament as \u201can embarrassing and dangerous departure\u201d from the expected standards.<\/p>\n

He has filed a formal petition to the Inspector-General of Police, calling for a full investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were numerous senior police officers who witnessed the appalling conduct\u2026 and can corroborate the events.\u201d<\/p>\n

He further accused political actors, particularly within the governing NDC, of trying to distort the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cElements within the NDC\u2019s propaganda machinery are now weaponising this incident to deflect attention from the overwhelming success and peaceful conduct of our demonstration.\u201d He ended with a call to the public and media: \u201cWe must not be distracted. We marched to defend the Constitution and the independence of the judiciary \u2014 principles that must be protected at all costs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Minority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin has accused a uniformed police officer of physically assaulting him at the entrance of Parliament House during Monday\u2019s \u201cSave the Judiciary\u201d protest. The Effutu MP described the act as \u201creprehensible and disgraceful.\u201d Mr Afenyo-Markin, who led the demonstration with other opposition leaders, recounted how the officer, identified as Constable Forson, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123457,"featured_media":10839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[3472,3473],"class_list":["post-10836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-alexander-kwamena-afenyo-markin-h","tag-alleged-police-assault"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/123457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10840,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10836\/revisions\/10840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}