Release of Delta 8: Minority says it’s threat to justice, Govt calls for investigation
The Minority in Parliament has condemned the decision by the Attorney-General’s (A-G’s) Office to discontinue the trial of the infamous Delta Force members, and described the decision as a travesty of justice and lack of respect for the Judiciary.
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It therefore, asked the A-G to reverse the ‘cancerous exercise of discretion’ for the accused to be re-arraigned.
State prosecutors in Kumasi reportedly entered a nolle prosequi (we shall no longer prosecute) the case involving the Delta Force members who stormed a session of the Kumasi Circuit Court and aided the escape of 13 of their colleagues who were standing trial.
At a press conference in Parliament House in Accra yesterday, the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, said it was the expectation of the Minority that the Delta Force members would have been duly cited for contempt of court by now and successfully prosecuted.
Therefore, he said, the curtailment of the trial was a slap in the face of the administration of justice, the rule of law and the Judiciary.
He said the exercise of discretionary powers to curtail the trial by the A-G “is not only arbitrary, capricious, bias but partisan.”
Rule of law
Mr Iddrisu asked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to demonstrate his pledge to uphold the rule of law by directing the continuation of the trial.
“We refer to the action of the A-G as bizarre because this is a government that claims to be an adherent of the rule of law. The Executive has a duty to uphold the tenets of the Constitution and in particular demonstrate in conduct and action its respect for the other arms of government, particularly the Judiciary.
“Justice delivery will suffer a downward spiral within this uninformed action”, he said.
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice , Ms Gloria Akufo
Partisan pressures
The Minority Leader said the decision by the A-G to discontinue the trial was a confirmation of the claim by leading members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the time of the lawless action by the Delta Force that the culprits would be set free.
“We are of the view that the government is pandering to partisan pressures to the detriment of justice and to upholding the independence of the Judiciary”, he said.
Mr Iddrisu said the Minority considered the entry of the nolle prosequi as a gross abuse of discretion, and asked the President “to demonstrate his leadership and not be led by the various lawless forces within his party.”
He said it was bizarre that the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice , Ms Gloria Akufo, who assured the entire citizenry of her commitment to fairness and strict adherence to ethical principles, would claim that the constitutional discretion was exercised on grounds merely that there was a lack of evidence to prosecute the case in question.
That, he said, was in view of the fact that the sitting judge, court clerks, court bailiffs, court warrant officers, journalists, as well as notable public figures in whose presence the said court was physically attacked and the accused persons freed, were alive and available to be interviewed and evidence taken from them.
“In these circumstances, we, therefore, describe the decision by the newly appointed A-G to exercise her discretion to file a nolle prosequi in this matter as an abuse of discretion, it is capricious, it is an abuse of due process and not candid. It was exercised for political expediency,” he said.
Government reacts
Meanwhile, the government, in a statement signed by the Minister of Information, Mr Mustapha Abdul -Hamid, said the A-G’s Department was investigating circumstances under which a Principal State Attorney in Kumasi decided, without recourse to advice from higher authority on a matter of high public interest of this nature, to drop charges against persons arrested-in-connection with disturbances in a Kumasi Circuit Court in April this year.
“Preliminary investigations suggest that the decision was taken without recourse even to the Director of Public Prosecutions and may amount to a breach of internal procedures on matters of this nature.
“While the department awaited the full results of the investigations, we will like to reiterate our commitment to ensuring that the rule is applied at all times and persons found culpable of any breaches that bring the work and commitment of the department into disrepute will be sanctioned and the appropriate remedies adopted in the interest of the Republic,” the statement added.