Private legal practitioner Kweku Paintsil has taken strong exception to the conduct of the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, accusing him of turning its investigations into a public spectacle instead of adhering to proper judicial procedures.
His remarks were prompted by the Special Prosecutor’s recent briefing on ongoing investigations.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Thursday, October 31, Mr. Paintsil said the Special Prosecutor’s frequent press conferences and detailed public briefings about ongoing investigations are contrary to the principles of fair trial and due process.
“I think what the OSP is doing is highly and very unprofessional. He is conducting a trial in the court of public opinion, which is against the very tenet and essence of a trial under our system of adjudication,” he said.
Mr. Paintsil described the conduct of the OSP as “most abhorrent and shameful”, questioning what motivates such public commentary on cases that are yet to be tried in court.
The lawyer stressed that every accused person is entitled to the presumption of innocence and accused the Special Prosecutor of undermining that constitutional right.
“I don’t know what pushes him to do all the kinds of things that he does by giving all these press statements. He is acting as if the media are going to be the judges in this matter. It’s very, very unfair,” he remarked.
His comments follow the latest press briefing by the OSP, indicating that former Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta and several other former government officials will be prosecuted following a detailed investigation into alleged corruption and related offences.
Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng said the investigation uncovered evidence of serious financial irregularities involving top officials of the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), as well as individuals connected to Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML).
According to Mr Agyebeng, the OSP will charge Mr Ofori-Atta, along with:
- Ernest Akore, former Chef de Cabinet to the former Minister of Finance
- Emmanuel Kofi Nti, former Commissioner-General of the GRA
- Rev Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, former Commissioner-General of the GRA
- Isaac Crentsil, former Commissioner of the Customs Division of the GRA and General Manager for Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited
- Kwadwo Damoah, former Commissioner of the Customs Division of the GRA and Member of Parliament for Jaman South
Mr Agyebeng explained that each of the named individuals will face charges of corruption and corruption-related offences before the end of next month.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
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