November 29, 2010 (Page 3 lead)
THE case involving five persons who have been accused of causing financial loss to the state in the sale of Ghana Airways and the operations of Ghana International Airline (GIA) has been adjourned to November 29, 2010.
The Financial Division of the Fast Track High Court adjourned the case to a specific date after it declined to grant defence counsel’s plea for an indefinite adjournment.
Dr Jacob Acquah Sampson, counsel for Dr Richard Anane, a former Minister of Transport, had prayed the court to adjourn the case indefinitely because his client’s appeal against the court’s earlier refusal to refer the defence team’s request for relevant documents on the case to the Supreme Court for interpretation had been adjourned indefinitely.
According to counsel, the Court of Appeal adjourned the case indefinitely at the instance of the prosecution and for that reason, the High Court should also adjourn indefinitely.
The presiding judge, Mr Justice Bright Mensah, however, declined to grant the defence counsel’s request and accordingly adjourned the case to November 29, 2010.
Dr Anane and Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, a former Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, filed an appeal against the Fast Track High Court’s refusal to refer their request for relevant documents on the case to the Supreme Court for interpretation.
Lawyers for the two filed the appeal against the Financial Division of the Fast Track High Court, which, on July 16, 2010, refused to refer the matter to the Supreme Court on the grounds that the issues raised by the accused persons did not border on the Constitution.
Those charged alongside the two are Kwadwo Mpiani, a former Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs; Sammy Crabbe, a former Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and Prof. George Gyan-Baffour, a former deputy minister at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
All the accused persons were in court together with their lawyers but there was no representation from the prosecution when the case was called.
They variously face 22 counts of causing financial loss to the state, defrauding by false pretences, conspiracy to deceive public officers, deceit of public officer, misappropriation of public funds, opening an offshore account without authorisation from the Bank of Ghana (BoG), conspiracy to commit stealing and stealing.
They have pleaded not guilty to the charges and have been granted self-recognisance bail.
The accused persons had requested for relevant documents to aid their defence under Article 19 (2e) of the 1992 Constitution, which states that “a person charged with criminal offence shall be given adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence”.
But the State opposed the application on the grounds that sections 163 and 181 of the Criminal Procedure Code of 1960 (Act 30) did not allow accused persons standing trial summarily to have access to such documents before they were tendered in evidence as exhibits.
Giving its ruling on July 16, 2010, the court upheld the State’s submissions and accordingly ordered the accused persons to present themselves for trial in the court.
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