Choose the most suitable option to replace the highlighted part of the sentence:

The court declared the accused as guilty.

The correct option to replace the highlighted part is guilty.

Explanation:

In English grammar, certain verbs such as declare, call, consider, find, and make follow a specific pattern: Verb + Object + Complement.

When using the verb "declared" with an object ("the accused"), the objective complement ("guilty") follows directly without needing the preposition "as". Using "as" after verbs like "declare" or "consider" in this context is redundant and grammatically incorrect.

Therefore, the sentence should correctly read: "The court declared the accused guilty."