Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Tuesday, 15 September 2015
One of the judges at the centre
of the bribery scandal that has rocked the judiciary says he is determined to
clear his name by dashing to the court of competent jurisdiction.
Yesterday, Justice Paul Uuter
Dery filed a suit at an Accra High Court against Anas Aremeyaw Anas, the
undercover journalist who broke the news about massive bribery and corruption
in the judiciary, asking for a perpetual injunction against the public
screening of the video as planned by the investigative journalist.
Apart from Tiger Eye - the
investigative firm founded by Anas - the suit filed on behalf of the judge by
his lawyer, Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, cites the Chief Justice as well as the
Attorney General as co-defendants.
The expose by Anas about the
conduct of some judges has shaken the foundation of the administration of
justice in Ghana and set tongues wagging as to how some judges stoop so low to
take bribes.
Currently, 22 circuit court judges and magistrates
have been suspended while 12 superior court judges, mostly at the high courts,
are facing possible impeachment for corruption.
Bad Nuts
The 12 judges allegedly indicted
in the video recordings of Anas include the plaintiff together with Justices
Kofi Essel Mensah, Charles Quist, John Ajet-Nassam and Ernest Obimpeh.
The rest are Justices Mustapha Habib Logoh, Gilbert
Ayisi-Addo popularly called Saddam, Frank Opoku, Ivy Heward Mills and Kwame
Ohene Essel.
However, two out of the 12
Justices - Yaw Ansu-Gyeabour and Mohammed Iddrisu - are said to have already
retired before Anas made the investigative report available.
Lower
Court Judges
The names of some of the suspended 22 lower court
judges have been given as Florence K. Ninepence Otoo, Alex Obeng Asante, Emmanuel
K. Sunu, Benjamin Y. Osei, Baptist Kodwo Filson, Issac Akwetey, Albert Zoogah, Courage Ofori Afriyie
and Seyram T.Y. Azumah - all of the circuit court.
The magistrates are William Baffoe, Michael Boamah Gyamfi, Paul K. Alhassan,
Stephen Asuure, Kaakyire Atta Owusu, Alfred K.A Mensah, Frank Kingsley Oppong,
Samuel Ahaibor, Isaac K. Amoah and Jacob Amponsah.
Video/Audio Evidence
The high-profile judges have been captured on either
video or audio allegedly collecting bribes in order to give judgements in
favour of those who had offered the bribes - and sometimes to the highest
bidder.
For instance, in the case of Justice Dery, he was
captured in his house sitting in a sofa allegedly receiving GH¢5,000 and asking
for a balance of GH¢1,000.
He was also given a goat which had a tug of war with
the dogs in his compound. There was another sheep tied with a rope in his modest
house.
Justice
Dery’s Reliefs
Justice Dery, who was once with the Human Rights Court and the Fast Track High Court
Three and had recently been transferred to Sekondi in the Western Region, wants
the court to declare that Anas had obtained the audio-visual recordings
‘unlawfully.’
The
plaintiff wants a declaration that “the continuous leakage of the contents of
the audio-visual recordings to the public by the 1st Defendant is prejudicial to the Plaintiff's right to a fair
hearing and a further declaration that the 1st Defendant's act of secretly
recording private discussions with the Plaintiff constituted a violation of the
Plaintiff's right to privacy.”
Anas’ Immunity
Justice Dery wants a another
declaration that “any purported immunity granted by the 3rd Defendant
(Attorney-General) to the 1st Defendant, its Chief Executive Officer, Anas
Aremeyaw Anas, its privies, agents and assigns is unlawful and of no effect,”
as well as a declaration that the 2nd Defendant (Chief Justice) and her assigns
“cannot rely on the contents of the illegally or unlawfully procured
audio-visual recordings.”
Fair Hearing
Justice Dery is also seeking a
declaration that the Chief Justice “cannot arrive at a fair determination as to
whether a prima facie case has been established against the Plaintiff” by
relying on the content of the petition filed by Anas and his Tiger Eye.
He wants an order to restrain
the Chief Justice and her assigns from relying on or publishing the content of
“the illegally and unlawfully procured audio-visual recordings” obtained from
Anas.
Public Premiering
The judge is seeking an order to
restrain Anas and his assigns from carrying out their intended public screening
of the said “illegally and unlawfully procured” audio-visual recordings and
also an order restraining Anas from publishing the said recordings through any
media platform, including social media.
He is asking for general damages
against Anas “for the invasion of the Plaintiff's privacy."
Statement Of Claim
In his statement of claim,
Justice Dery said he was handed a letter dated September 9, 2015 by the office
of the Chief Justice and when he checked, it was titled: “Petition in
Accordance with Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution on Allegation of Bribery.”
He posited that the letter said the
bribery allegation had been levelled against him by Anas in respect of a case he
presided over titled, “The Republic v. Kwame Dzato.”
Justice Dery averred that before
he could submit his response to the Chief Justice, Anas had caused the
publication of the said audio-visuals on various media platforms.
He is averring that if the said
audio-visuals exist, which he is categorically denying, they “constitute
entrapment which is intolerable in law and more particularly, in the interest
of best practices, frowned upon by the laws of civilised democratic countries
such as the United States and the United Kingdom.”
Justice Dery insists that the
said audio-visual recording against him had not been subjected to any cross-examination
or passed admissibility test before any court of competent jurisdiction or
judicial committee as required by law.
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