The Ghanaian, who was released from the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Trinidad after an appeal by president Akufo-Addo is said to be doing well and very “thankful.”
Samuel Asante has spent about two years in custody over immigration breaches but is now a free man when his president begged for his release last June.
He was released on Friday and his family, who said they were shocked when they heard on Friday that he was to be released, have confirmed he is in good shape.
“He is doing ok,” a family friend told local outlet News Day.
On Friday, National Security Minister Stuart Young ordered Asante’s release from the IDC, where he had been for almost two years. He walked out of the IDC at about 8pm on Friday.
Asante is also expected to meet with his attorneys Gerald Ramdeen, Umesh Maharaj and Dayadai Harripaul soon and to visit his doctor at the end of the week.
He had been at the IDC since 2017 and was expected to be deported on January 28 last year. He registered as an asylum seeker with the UN Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in October 2018, but this was refused on March 22 this year, according to the court documents filed in support of an application for his freedom.
On June 13, the Prime Minister agreed to the release of Asante, the sole Ghanaian at the IDC, after meeting with Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo during an official state visit to TT.
Rowley also announced a pardon for jailed Nigerians, similar to the amnesty granted to Venezuelans earlier that month.
At a joint media briefing with Akufo-Addo, the Prime Minister said Africans at the IDC would be allowed to register once there were no criminal matters against them. Rowley said there were a few Nigerians at the IDC who had been there for quite some time and only one Ghanaian.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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