Charles Bissue’s judicial review application seeking to quash an arrest warrant obtained by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) against him has been unsuccessful.
Lawyers for the former secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) are seeking to stop the court’s directive to have him cross-examined.
In their application, his lawyers claimed the warrant for his arrest should be quashed because it was obtained based on malice.
Charles Bissue was declared wanted by the OSP for failing to respond to an invitation from the Special Prosecutor to appear and answer questions regarding the ongoing investigation into suspected corruption within the dissolved IMCIM.
He was subsequently arrested when he turned himself in.
The Human Rights Court on November 8 slapped Charles Bissue with a GH¢500 fine over what it said was his failure to take a decision on his case seeking to stop the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) from investigating and prosecuting him.
The OSP announced on its Facebook page that the court has adjourned the case to February 1 to allow his lawyers time to file his written submissions on the case.
In an interview with Citinewsroom, the lawyer for the OSP Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah described the assertions by the OSP as a ‘lie’.
He also denied the court quashing the application sought by his client [Charles Bissue].
“That is not true. There has not been any such application asking that Mr. Bissue should not be examined. Because there has been no such order by the court. Indeed, the OSP has made no such application to cross-examine Mr. Bissue. The OSP in its answer to Mr. Bissue’s application prayed to examine the deponent to the Affidavit in Support of Mr. Bissue’s application. The court, at the last adjourned date, acceded to that prayer.
However, following the filing of the AG’s Affidavit in answer, I drew the court’s attention to the redundancy of that direction and the court asked me to hold on and make the prayer at the next adjourned date when the hearing comes off. The court, therefore, hasn’t refused any such application. I don’t know why the OSP will engage in such falsehood. Perhaps it is not receiving the right information from its agents after court. I was the one to be cross-examined and not Charles Bissue, I have not been well, and that is why I also asked for extra time to file my submission,” Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah clarified.
Below is the OSP’s Facebook post.
On Monday, 15 January 2024, Charles Bissue’s lawyer was unsuccessful in seeking the court to rescind its decision to have him cross-examined.
At the last adjourned date, the court granted the OSP permission to cross-examine Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah.
This decision was made in response to an affidavit submitted by Mr. Awuah, claiming that the Office had obtained a warrant for Bissue’s arrest. A warrant he has failed to produce in court till date because it does not exist. The Court subsequently injuncted the Office from arresting Mr. Bissue for ten days.
As per the court’s directive, Bissue’s lawyer was also supposed to submit his written submissions for the case.
However, he failed to do so, citing a torn ligament as the reason and requested additional time.
The Court has fixed 1 February 2024 by which time lawyer for Bissue is expected to have filed his written submission and fit to be cross-examined.
