The Office of the Attorney General has expressed reservations about the arrest of a pregnant woman only identified as Vera during the Democracy Hub demo.
The Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah Yeboah has said the court cannot independently verify such details, adding he cannot confirm whether it is true or not.
In view of this, it was therefore the responsibility of the defence counsel to bring the condition before the court’s attention.
“On this issue about the pregnant person, whether she’s pregnant or not, it’s not something that I can confirm for now, but the law on these matters is very clear.
“Now, when someone is pregnant and she’s stood before a law court, and the court is considering whether to grant bail or not to grant bail, the lawyer of a certain accused person must make it known to the court that his client is pregnant and provide the evidence,” he said in an interview with Accra-based Citi News.
Vera, who is four months pregnant, was arrested during a Democracy Hub demonstration and subsequently remanded in custody for two weeks.
The incident has attracted mixed reactions from a section of Ghanaians amidst claims by Deputy Communications Director for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Jennifer Queen that it is false.
Jennifer Queen stated that, there was no evidence to suggest that any of the arrested individuals were pregnant at the time of their detention.
She also noted that the lawyers representing the accused have not informed the police of any pregnancy.
But Mr Yeboah has said he is disappointed in the lawyers over their failure to bring it up during the bail hearing as it could have influenced the court’s decision.
“So the court, considering the bail application, they want to look at that aspect of it. But the courts are also mandated by law. When they convict a female person, and it’s about to sentence the female, the court is mandated to inquire whether the female, that accused person, is pregnant. So when it comes to the grant of bail, the law does not mandate the judges to inquire, but when it comes to sentencing, that is where the judge prefers to do that.”
“On this particular case, I’ve checked with the attorneys who were in court yesterday, and from what we have been told, the issue of the pregnancy of an accused person never came up in court for the court’s consideration. And so if indeed one of the accused persons is pregnant, then the counsel for that accused person feels it is his duty to disclose that information to the court,” he said.
He insisted that, if there was any party to be blamed, it would be the lawyers.
“So if there’s any blame, I’d rather lay it on the doorsteps of the lawyer for that accused person and I’ve gone to the extent also to find out from the CID whether that information of pregnancy came to be a notice, whether that accused person disclosed to them that she was pregnant and there’s nothing from their end to that effect,” he added.
ALSO READ: