Ato Forson case: Judge warns to hold the case in-camera if…

The trial judge in the Ato Forson case, Justice Efia Serwah Asare-Botwey, has served notice that she will conduct the case in-camera if people keep recording the court proceedings and leak them on social media.

The judge said this after ordering National Security to take steps to investigate the source of the audio recording of proceedings in circulation.

The case was put on hold on Tuesday, June 19, after Deputy Attorney-General Alfred Tuah Yeboah raised concerns about someone recording last week’s cross-examination of the third accused, Richard Jakpa, and circulating it on various WhatsApp platforms.

The judge called all the parties, including the accused persons, into chambers for a meeting.

After the meeting, the judge said, “If it’s repeated, I’ll clear the court and hold the case in camera. Only prosecution, lawyers and the accused persons will be allowed in.”

Last week, Mr Tuah Yeboah said that the prosecution was not minded about the contents of the audio recording that took place between Attorney-General Godfred Dame, the third accused, Richard Jakpa.

Asked how bad or damaging the audio recording is to the case while speaking to journalists after court proceedings on Thursday, June 13, he said,: “Not at all, because this audio is nothing that you have heard, in terms of the content, we are not minded about that because it is something that is in the public domain.”

 

The High Court on Thursday, June 13 admitted the audio recording into evidence.
“The High Court admits audio recording between Richard Jakpa and Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame as evidence.

Last Thursday, June 6, when the trial judge, Justice Efia Serwah Asare-Botwey, dismissed the application for mistrial filed by the lawyers of the first accused, Dr Ato Forson, she went ahead to say that the tape did not reveal any instruction from Godfred Dame for Mr. Jakpa to implicate Ato Forson.

“Having listened to the conversation between [Richard Jakpa] and A-G, the allegation that A-G sought assistance to implicate [Ato Forson] was not borne out of the mouth of the A-G but [Richard Jakpa],” she said.
The judge after dismissing the application, however, advised Attorney-General Godfred Dame to recuse him from the ongoing case in the interest of justice and and the public.

The court also dismissed the application for mistrial filed by Ato Forson.
Lawyers for the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, filed a supplementary affidavit in support of the motion on notice for an order of mistrial, injunction, or stay of proceedings in the ongoing ambulance case.

This followed the allegations made against Godfred Dame by Richard Jakpa.

The trending recording of a telephone conversation between Mr. Jakpa and the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame, had been annexed to the affidavit.
Also, certain quotations contained in some media reports, particularly by Accra-based Asaase Radio, that border on alleged professional misconduct on the part of the A-G, had been cited and annexed to the process.

Dr Ato Forson was requesting the honorable court to declare a mistrial in the interest of justice, which must not only be done but be manifestly seen to be done.

The Minority Leader averred that the Attorney-General had embarked on reprehensible and unlawful conduct, conduct unbecoming of an Attorney-General, let alone the Minister for justice, for the sole purpose of securing his conviction. And that, if the Court were to ignore these rather grave matters and proceed with the trial regardless, that would amount to a real travesty of justice, as the Court would have disregarded credible and cogent claims of misconduct by the Attorney General.

 

He argued that if a mistrial was not ordered and such blatant disregard for the rule of law and the ethics of prosecution by no mean a person than the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice was glossed over and allowed to pass without any consequences, public confidence in the administration of justice would be adversely affected.