Charles Bissue’s attorney has asked for copies of the materials the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) relies on for its investigation against their client.
Charles Bissue was the former secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (ICMIM). He previously requested an injunction to prevent the OSP from looking into him any further due to alleged violations of human rights.
The Special Prosecutor has identified the Secretary of the now-defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining as a person of interest as a result of a documentary in the OSPs possession.
On Monday, June 12, Nana Adjei Awuah, lead attorney of Charles Bissue stated in court that without the records being given to the High Court by the OSP, he would not have been able to file his petitions for the injunction.
“In order to assist the court to do justice, all the relevant facts and evidence must be available to the court. After we filed our suit and the motion for injunction, the necessity of the document we seek became apparent because of an article by the former Special Prosecutor. It was not as though we knew of it from the outset that we failed to raise it.
“What document are we referring to? It is the document that commenced the whole investigation process. It is the document that invoked the powers of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the applicant. In other words, but for that petition, very respectfully, he will not even be in court.”
Nana Adjei Awuah
However, counsel for the Office of Special Prosecutor argued to the contrary. According to the lead attorney, Dr. Tuffuor, the two documents are not related in any way
“This application for injunction is founded on the statement of claim. The applicant’s case is determined by his pleadings and these pleadings informed the injunction. In his pleadings, there is absolutely nothing referring to the document he is seeking the first defendant to produce.
“After filing his case, he comes across some other piece of information that they seek to make part of their case, they know what to do. You cannot file a motion to produce. There is really nothing that joins the two motions.”
Dr. Tuffuor
After Charles Bissue’s attorney informed the court that his client is ill, Olivia Obeng Owusu, the Presiding Judge of General Jurisdiction 4 of the Accra High Court, postponed the case till Tuesday, July 4.
Additionally, the OSP is looking into Charles Bissue as part of its investigations into the IMCIM report by former environment minister Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng. He took legal action by filing a writ at the High Court in Accra to prevent the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) from prosecuting him.
Special Prosecutor Not The Conscience And Soul Of Ghana
Ransford Yaw Gyampo, a political science professor, challenged the Special Prosecutor, claiming that he cannot refer to himself as the “conscience and soul of Ghana.”
Prof. Gyampo raised concern about Kissi Agyebeng’s conviction after his weekend public interview in a piece published on Monday, June 12.
The Special Prosecutor commented on how his office handled the arrest of Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, a former minister of environment sciences and innovation and someone who many people believe to be a patriot. He was however detained by the OSP last month to answer questions about potential corruption-related matters.
“You cannot walk in the shadows of a partisan appointee and still describe yourself as the conscience and soul of the nation. Not consecrating saints can be interpreted to mean every suspect is a criminal ab initio.
“But in his own law that he studied, there is a principle that, all are innocent or ‘consecrated saints’ until proven guilty. So, where from this new alien legal maxim being propounded and must we allow Kissi Agyabeng to impose it on us as a people?”
Prof. Gyampo
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