Lawyers for convicted social media personality, Rosemond Brown, popularly known as Akuapem Poloo, have filed an appeal against their client’s jail sentence.
The actress has been handed a 90-day jail term for publishing obscene material and violating the dignity and integrity of her 7-year-old son in a nude social media post.
Though, she has in a video after her sentencing expressed her resolve to remain strong and return from jail stronger, many Ghanaians have described the jail sentence as harsh.
To this end, the lawyers are appealling the ruling to make a mitigation plea to ask for a more lenient punishment.
Akuapem Poloo was found guilty of posting a nude photo of herself and her seven-year-old son on June 30, 2020, his birthday.
She pleaded guilty to all three charges and was convicted on her own plea by the court though she had initially pleaded not guilty.
But she was handed her sentence following her conviction on charges of publication of obscene material and domestic violence by an Accra circuit court.
The judge, Christina Cann, bemoaned the spate of nudity on Ghanaian social media maintaining that the punishment meted out to Akuapem Polo must serve as a deterrent to others.
Appeal will be difficult’
But private legal practitioner, Bernard Owiredu has made a point that seeking an appeal on the judge’s ruling will be quite difficult given the nature of the case and judgment.
“It is all within the strategy of the lawyer but looking at how the appellate system works, it will eat into the jail term. I am thinking that the judge will not even grant bail pending the appeal. Once the lawyer files the appeal, he may succeed in securing bail pending appeal. It happens, but it is very rare. If not, by the time the appeal is heard, 50-days might have passed already.”
“I think a full trial would have been the best. Now, it will be very difficult to appeal against the conviction. He can only appeal against the sentencing because the conviction was on her own plea”, he told Citi News.
