BY VALENTIA TETTEH
The Minority in Parliament has accused the Attorney General of undermining the constitutional rights of accused persons by publicly branding them as criminals before the conclusion of court proceedings.
Addressing journalists in Parliament, the Minority’s Legal Counsel and Member of Parliament for Suame, John Darko, said the Attorney General’s recent comments on ongoing prosecutions amount to “pronouncing suspects guilty before a fair trial.”
His remarks come in response to the Attorney General’s recent description of the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Food Buffer Stock Company and the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as “lawless looters” engaged in criminal acts.
According to Mr. Darko, such public statements compromise the integrity of the justice system and violate the constitutional principle of presumption of innocence.
“Competent Attorneys General don’t prosecute their cases in the court of public opinion,” he stressed. “Put the evidence before the court. If it stands the test of time and the court pronounces them guilty, so be it. Why bring the evidence to the media to destroy the image of people before they get a chance to open their defences?”
The Suame MP further cautioned journalists against what he described as the amplification of a “grand populist agenda” being pursued by the Attorney General, noting that such actions could weaken constitutional protections.
“You publish and amplify these statements thinking you are doing your job, but what you are doing is amplifying the violation of the Constitution,” he said. “These constitutional violations should not be tolerated, as they are gradually tearing down our constitutional guardrails.”
The Minority is therefore calling for the Attorney General to be called to ensure that prosecutorial conduct remains within the boundaries of the law and the courtroom.
