[ad_1]
Policy of Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2019-07-16
Martin Kpebu is a private lawyer
Martin Kpebu, a private lawyer, is troubled by the sudden reversal of the Accra High Court to quash the bail of a murder suspect, Gregory Afoko.
"It's very surprising, it's weird [and] it does not bode well for our legal system if this kind of thing continues, "he reacted Monday.
His remarks come after a judge of the High Court of Accra, Judge Merley Wood, overturned the decision made by another High Court judge, Judge George Buadi.
It is Judge Buadi who granted bail to Gregory Afoko on March 14, 2019. The suspect is being tried for the murder of the party chairman of the Upper East region of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), in 2015.
But the order to release the suspect on bail was ignored by the state for four months. An attempt to overturn the decision before the High Court has failed. The State, through the Attorney General, subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeal.
Low soil
JoyNews correspondent Joseph Ackah-Blay reported that, although the Court of Appeal has not yet ruled on the case, the prosecutor filed an oral petition to the High Court on Monday. security given to the accused.
According to the reporter, the prosecutor claimed that Mr. Akofo could not return to court if he was released on bail.
According to Mr. Kpebu, this development is very unusual and constitutes a "blatant abuse of the judicial process".
He wonders why the state would abandon his case before the Court of Appeals to seek the annulment of the decision made by the same High Court.
He described as "weak ground" the argument of the prosecutor that the suspect is a risk of absconding, as the court would have taken it into account in making his previous decision.
"We are in a situation in which an accused meets all bail conditions granted to him by a high court. [and] then, suddenly, a reversal of situation on an unstable ground that it will vanish. In the decision to release him on bail, all these risks [flight risk] have been evaluated and everything, "said the Public Interest Litigation Specialist at Evans Mensah, in Joy FM's Top Story.
In the meantime, Mr. Afoko's legal team has indicated that it will challenge the new decision.
"It's very surprising … it's the first time I've heard or seen something like this," said Nana Yaw Osei, who speaks on behalf of the Afoko legal team.
Source link
