The Supreme Court has in a 5-0 unanimous decision dismissed an application to prohibit the presiding judge in the Kwabena Adu Boahene criminal trial from further hearing the case on grounds of bias.
Lawyers of the former National Signals Bureau Director filed the application to prohibit the High Court judge, Justice Eugene Nyadu Nyantei, from further hearing the case, citing alleged bias on his part.
In court on Wednesday, October 29, lead counsel for Adu Boahene, Samuel Atta Akyea argued on the grounds of allegations that the trial judge blocked the disclosure of exculpatory evidence, took special interest in the matter by hearing the matter from 9am to 4pm and allowing the Attorney- General to decide the timelines of his decisions.
But Deputy Attorney-General Dr Justice Srem-Sai counter argued that the defence lawyers had misunderstood the facts of the case and was misinforming the apex court.
“There’s substantial misapplication of the facts of the case, the procedure and law.
“Case of AG vs Salah, the standard was set. Any allegation of bias must be proven. It’s a simple case of the AP being tried for stealing. AP moved as much as GHC49m from state accounts into his personal account.
We disclosed the relevant portion of the accused bank statements. The A-G didn’t remove pages from the accused account. Counsel peddling falsehood and repeats same before the apex court,” he noted.
Justice Sai therefore prayed the court to dismiss the application.
In their ruling, the 5-member panel of justices presided over by Justice Avril Lovelace Johnson unanimously dismissed the application citing it as without merit.
The Supreme Court also held that the application did not meet the required threshold for the prohibition of the trial judge.
The former National Signals Bureau Director Kwabena Adu Boahene and his lawyers return to the High Court on Thursday, October 30, for the continuation of the trial.
Source:Lovinghananews.com
