Lawyer for former Director of the National Signal Bureau (NSB), Charles Adu Boahene, Samuel Atta-Akyea, has accused the Attorney-General (AG) of withholding vital documents in the ongoing trial.
Speaking on JoyNews Today on Friday, August 29, Atta-Akyea claimed the AG had been “selective” in providing information crucial to the defence.
“The AG has been selective in furnishing us with the documents it wants to file. In fact, we brought it to the attention of the judge that in a very consequential bank account, they’ve decided not to include the full volume of the bank account,” he said.
According to him, the missing details could prove his client’s innocence. “What is exculpatory of Adu Boahene and why the AG should give it to us… the evidence that will aid the accused persons to conduct their case… should be given to them,” he added.
He further explained that while the AG alleged that funds were withdrawn from a private B&C account to purchase properties in Kumasi and London, no supporting details had been disclosed.
“So give us when this purchase took place, let us have who owned the property, the vendor, when was it sold, and how much. They couldn’t give it,” he argued.
Atta-Akyea stressed that the law requires fair trial standards, which include full disclosure by the prosecution. “The fair trial requirement is that you shouldn’t withhold information that should aid the innocence of the accused person. Because the AG is not a prosecutor, an AG is supposed to hold the scales of justice even,” he stated.
He described the alleged withholding of potentially favourable evidence as “unprofessional,” adding that recent public comments by the Deputy Attorney-General on the matter were “unfortunate” and undermined due process.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Attorney-General, Justice Srem Sai, has rejected the claims. In a post on X on Thursday, August 28, he dismissed suggestions that the Attorney-General’s office had lost evidence in the Republic v Adu-Boahene trial.
“The Attorney-General’s office has not lost any evidence regarding the ongoing Republic v Adu-Boahene criminal trial,” he wrote.
Read also: Deputy Attorney-General refutes claims of lost evidence in Adu-Boahene trial
According to him, all relevant documents were intact and had been duly filed before the court.
“As of June 18, we had filed all the documents which we intend to rely on to prove the charges against the four accused persons in the case.
“The documents include contracts of sale, bank wire transfer records, bank account statements, company registration documents, property ownership records and purchase receipts, INTERPOL stolen vehicle records, investigative caution statements and charge statements of each accused person, records of asset non-declaration, a flow chart of money movements through a complex web of bank accounts, and testimonies of our three witnesses.”