A private legal practitioner, Justice Srem-Sai, has expressed concerns about the intentions of the Attorney-General (AG), Godfred Yeboah Dame, regarding a fair prosecution in the ongoing ambulance purchase trial.
This concern arises after the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice revealed they have been under significant pressure from various individuals to discontinue the trial.
The revelation was followed by the release of plea bargain details involving the third accused.
The third accused, Richard Jakpa, earlier alleged in court that Mr. Dame had approached him several times, seeking his assistance to implicate Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
The AG, in a statement, mentioned that Jakpa had requested plea bargaining through a series of letters, which had not been accepted.
The letters dated back to April and June of 2023, indicating Jakpa’s willingness to negotiate a plea deal.
However, in an interview with Citi TV on Saturday, May 25, Mr. Srem-Sai strongly disagreed with the notion that plea bargaining implied an admission of guilt, as suggested by the AG.
He emphasised that plea bargaining is a legal strategy and does not necessarily mean the accused admits to the charges.
Mr. Srem-Sai argued that the AG’s actions indicated a lack of intention to conduct a fair prosecution.
He stressed the importance of transparency and fairness in the legal process to ensure justice is served.
“The whole office of AG on the letterhead of AG who understands the essence of plea bargaining and knows very well that an application for plea bargaining is not an admission of guilt and indeed it is actually without prejudice, yet was able to put out a press statement saying that it is indeed the accused person rather who was trying to influence him and the evidence of this alleged influence is an application for plea bargaining.”
“It didn’t end there, just after the press statement was issued we saw copies of the plea bargaining documents application between the accused person’s lawyers and the AG flying in the media.”
“Who released those things, you could see stamps of the AG on them. What it tells you is that the AG has no intention of actually conducting a fair prosecution…that is an unfair practice,” he insisted.