Small-scale illegal mining kingpin, Aisha Huang is facing the law over her alleged engagement in galamsey activities in Ghana. The Chinese national who was arrested in August 2022 has since been arraigned before court for trial. She was arraigned before an Accra Circuit Court on September 2, together with three other Chinese nationals. Subsequently, the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, following the re-arrest of Aisha Huang, reopened her case discontinued by the state in 2018. As a result, Aisha Huang is currently standing trial in two different courts; the fresh case against her at Circuit Court 9 since her rearrest in August and her old case from 2018 which was discontinued after the state filed a nolle prosequi is being heard at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court. GhanaWeb brings you a detailed breakdown of Aisha Huang’s trials in both courts and what each entails: Circuit Court trial: Aisha Huang was arraigned before Accra Circuit Court 9 in September after her rearrest in the Ashanti Region. The alleged galamsey kingpin was arrested at her private residence in Kumasi after her return to the country following her repatriation in 2018. She has since had to appear at the Circuit Court 9 with 3 other Chinese nationals she was arrested together with. Aisha was issued two charges; mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a license at the Circuit Court. Her three accomplices; John Li Hua (2nd accused person), Huang Jei (3rd accused person) and Huaid Hai Hun (4th accused person) however, are all facing a single (1) charge; engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without license at the Circuit Court. She is represented by her lawyer, Nkrabeah Effah Dartey while her counterparts all have different legal representatives in court. Aisha Huang appears before the Circuit Court with her 3 alleged accomplices for each trial, with the latest being heard today, October, 12, 2022. It was during one of such hearings that the second accused person; Johng Li Hua who has been diagnosed with a health condition, collapsed. Aisha and her accomplices have since been denied bail by the presiding judge; Bright Acquah over reasons including posing a flight risk, interference in investigations, and impact of galamsey. Aisha Huang’s case at the Circuit Court has been adjourned after Wednesday, October 12, 2022 hearing. The next trial will be called on October 27, 2022 for Aisha Huang and her three accomplices. Accra High Court trial: Aisha Huang is facing trial at the Criminal Court 5, under the Criminal Division at the Accra High Court. This case began after the Attorney General, Godfred Dame called for the dockets of the accused person from the police for prosecution, following her rearrest in August 2022. In an official post from the Office of the Attorney General, he indicated that he will re-initiate prosecution in respect of the old offences for which Aisha Huang was standing trial before her deportation in 2018, as well as tackle the new offences. Being represented by Lawyer Nkrabeah Effah Dartey, Aisha Huang has been denied bail two times by the Accra High Court by presiding Judge; Lydia Marfo, for reasons including the nature of the charges, severity of punishment, flight risk, interference in investigations and impact of galamsey. At the last hearing on October 11, 2022, the case was adjourned to October 24, 2022 after she was again denied bail after a plea by her lawyer. 3 Chinese, 1 Vietnamese face galamsey charges at Accra High Court: Four others; three Chinese nationals and Vietnamese are also separately standing trial side by side with Aisha Huang, at the Accra High Court. The four accused persons are being charged for engaging in illegal mining without license while the fourth accused; a Vietnamese, is facing another charge for remaining in Ghana after the expiration of a permit contrary to sections 20(1) and 52(1)(d) of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573). The pleas of the three Chinese; Shi Yang alias Philip, Li Wei Guo and Shi Mei Zhi have since been heard by the court whereas that of the Vietnamese national, Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen has been deferred by the court because she did not have access to an interpreter and was neither conversant with the Chinese or English languages. All three Chinese nationals have pleaded not guilty to the charge of engaging in small-scale mining without a license. Presiding Judge, Lydia Marfo during trial on Wednesday, October 11, ordered that the Clerk liaises with the Institute of Languages to furnish the accused person with a Vietnamese interpreter. The four have also however been denied bail for reasons including; flight risk, the potential of interfering in investigations, impact of galamsey, nature of charges and severity of punishment. The case of these four has since been adjourned by the Criminal Court 5, to October 27, 2022. You can also watch this episode of People & Places here: WA