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Police prosecutors in Tamale have been ordered not to bring new cases before Judge Twumasi Appiah, a judge at the Tamale District Court.
This is to protest the court's decision in the case involving the Chinese Helen Huang, who was arrested for smuggling illegal rosewood in May.
The directive was issued by the regional Attorney General's office, Joynews confirmed police sources from the Criminal Investigation Department of the Northern Region.
Sources said the judge's decision shocked prosecutors, requiring the decision to stop bringing the case to him.
A Chinese national, Helen Huang, suspected of having exchanged banned rosewood, was arrested again after being cautioned.
The woman in her forties was arrested for the first time in Tamale on May 7, 2019 for transporting four trucks loaded with rosewood, an endangered forest product.
Detained and then released on bail for police investigation, the suspect later left the country two days after his arrest. The man who was standing surety for her was charged while the police had declared her wanted.
After Helen Huang was seen in Tamale on June 15, the police arrested her, ending her 36 days of flight.
She was brought before the Tamale circuit court.
Prosecutors rushed to the circuit court to challenge a bail application for the suspect's lawyers and also sought pre-trial detention.
Judge Twumasi Appiah, who presided over the court, struck out the case and handed the suspect over to the immigration service. This was despite vehement protests from the police and prosecutors.
According to the judge, his decision to order his deportation was based on the fact that the prosecutors had not formally initiated criminal proceedings against the alleged smuggler of Chinese stowaways.
Prosecutors challenged this badertion by baderting that the indictment was being presented to the judge at the time of rendering his decision.
This seems to have put a strain on the relationship between the prosecutors and the judge, which led to the current boycott.
The audits conducted by JoyNews revealed that no new cases had been filed in the circuit court since the publication of the directive on June 29, nearly four days after the dramatic rejection of the law. rosewood case by the judge.
Police sources said the directive was issued after several complaints against the judge.
A senior prosecutor also confirmed the directive to JoyNews, but said it was temporary.
"This measure is temporary.We will monitor to see if there will be changes, but the circuit court ruled on business, but we have not badigned new business".
The regional senior prosecutor, Quddus Salia, will neither confirm nor deny the boycott, except to say that the case is confidential.
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