Samuel Atta Akyea, the lawyer representing former National Signals Bureau Director-General Kwabena Adu-Boahene, has accused the Attorney General of giving the impression that his clients were guilty before they were even charged in court.
In an interview with Citi Eyewitness News on Wednesday, June 3, he contended that the Attorney General’s initial public remarks on the case amounted to an early condemnation of the accused.
Atta-Akyea claims that the Attorney General’s widely reported press conference implied that there was substantial evidence against the accused and that they ought to think about entering into a plea deal.
“I have to tell you that it was the Attorney General who concluded that before they were arraigned before a court of law, my clients were guilty,” he stated.
Before the trial had started, according to Akyea, the Attorney General’s remarks presented him as both the prosecution and the judge in this case.
“If you pay regard to the well-choreographed press conference at the instance of the Attorney General, he was so clear that they better come for plea bargaining because of the kind of evidence he has against them. The Attorney General was a prosecutor and then the judge at the same time,” he said.
He further said that before the prosecution had a chance to prove its case in court, the narrative that the public was exposed to through the media incited bias against the accused.
“This is what they sold to the press and then they had to now come to court and prove the matter beyond reasonable doubt,” he added.
According to the former Abuakwa South MP, court processes have shown a different image than what has been reported in the media.
“There has been a lot of poison in the media space already, but the story in the court is different,” he stated.
His remarks coincide with Adu-Boahene’s ongoing prosecution for allegedly embezzling GH¢49.1 million in public monies associated with a contract to purchase cyber-defense software.
After the Court of Appeal reversed a High Court ruling that had rejected the defense’s request for additional disclosures, the case recently took a different course.
The appeal court denied a request for the publishing of National Security account details spanning multiple administrations, but ordered prosecutors to produce papers requested by Adu-Boahene’s legal team.
Additionally, the Court of Appeal denied a request for a stay of proceedings, permitting the High Court trial to proceed.
Source: newsthemegh.com