The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, have expressed worry over what he described as a demubrate attempt by some individuals to misrepresent the facts of the court.
The Minister stated that a group of people in this country who ride on manipulations of facts, distortions, and deceptions are seeking to mislead the public.
He said this while speaking in an interview with journalists after the court rejected a motion filed by the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, and a businessman, Richard Jakpa, for a mistrial.
The High Court Judge presiding over the matter, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, stated in her ruling that there is no legal basis for a court in the course of criminal proceedings to order an inquiry into the conduct of a prosecutor, adding that there may be another forum for such an exercise, but these criminal proceedings cannot accommodate it.
On the issue of the mistrial, the judge ruled that As far as the legislation or case law is concerned, there is no provision for the court to declare a mistrial on the basis of the alleged misconduct of a lawyer, either for the prosecution or the defence.
She went to rule that she found no exceptional circumstance in the application to injunct the Attorney-General and his office from performing their statutory duty at this late stage of the trial, especially when the Court has ordered A1 to open his defence, which he has done.
She, however, advised the AG to refuse himself from the ongoing ambulance procurement case in which the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, and a businessman are standing trial for allegedly causing a financial loss of €2.37 million to the state.
But the minister says he was not prepared to excuse himself.
“The Judge after the ruling clarified that she has not given such order at all and that it was only an advice. I’m conducting the matter, I’m still conducting the trial,” he said.
“The most important thing today is that all the applications filed by applicants have been dismissed. All the five applications have failed and in reaction to this, I will say that this clearly shows that a group of people in this country who ride on manipulations of facts, distortions and deceptions are seeking to mislead the public.
“Today, they have been exposed,” he added.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana