You’re disrespecting rights of suspects – Minority slams AG

The Minority in Parliament has slammed Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, accusing him of disrespecting the constitutional rights of citizens suspected of committing crimes.

On Monday, the Attorney General spoke to journalists, outlining various offences allegedly committed by the former Director-General of the Bureau of National Communications.

Addressing a news conference in Parliament, Legal Counsel to the Minority and MP for Suame, John Darko, accused the Attorney General of engaging in a media trial and failing to respect the rights of arrested individuals.

“And for that matter, any person who is given the opportunity, as our learned Attorney General, to enforce our law must do so within the provisions of this constitution. The sanctity of this constitutional provision stated above and the duty placed on the Attorney General of the Republic, who also doubles as Minister for Justice, requires the AG to ensure that a person charged with criminal offense is protected and presumed innocent until proving guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction or until that person has pleaded guilty.”

Meanwhile, the Minority insists that they will not be intimidated by threats of defamation suits and will continue to hold the government accountable to ensure justice.

Already, lawyers for Kwabena Adu Boahene, the former Director of the National Signal Bureau (NSB), and his wife, Angela Adjei Boateng, have accused the Attorney-General accusing of conducting a “trial by media” instead of allowing due process to take its course.

In a strongly worded legal letter dated March 24, Zoe, Akyea & Co. condemned the AG for publicly branding their clients as “state looters” during a press conference while admitting investigations by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) were still ongoing.

“The Learned Attorney-General has cheapened the press conference by pronouncing our clients guilty in the court of public opinion,” the letter stated.

“He unprofessionally labelled prejudicial information as ‘evidence,’ poisoning public perception before any formal charges.”

The lawyers argued that such conduct violates constitutional safeguards protecting suspects from being prejudged before trial.

“It is difficult to come to terms with the fact that the Attorney-General is comfortable with the press where there is “no proof beyond reasonable doubt.” The Attorney-General has become the media persecutor of our Clients, a judge in his own court while simultaneously asserting that he is still investigating the case. This is counter-intuitive.”

“We do not believe a change of government through constitutional means should degenerate into a reset version of rule of law in which the press is fed with a pathetic one-sided and untested position by the leader of the Bar. This unmitigated prejudice with defamatory consequences will be prosecuted in the appropriate forum.”

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