There was drama at the High Court in Bolgatanga last Friday (March 10, 2023) when two men who tried to influence the Supervising High Court Judge, Justice Alexander Graham, were acquitted by the court.
The drama unfolds at Loro High Court in Bolgatanga.
Two influential people in Bolgatanga have entered the judge’s chambers to test their influence.
The judge handed them over to a court warrant officer for custody, and in open court, Judge Alexander Graham asked the two men to repeat exactly what they said in court.
The two men, Chief Baare, Naab Nyakora Mantii and Richard Sunday Yinbil, were convicted after pleading guilty.
The court found him guilty of contempt and ordered him to sign a six-month bond for good behavior at the Upper East Regional Police Command before he was released.
This is after about 12 lawyers present in the court for various cases in the court have apologized to the court and did not give a custodial sentence.
Events leading to conviction
The incident that led to the conviction as told in court is that on Friday before starting the proceedings in court, the two men asked permission from the court clerk to see the judge in the room for a private conversation which was granted.
The court heard that after entering the judge’s chambers and being granted an audience, he realized he had been sent to deliver a message to him.
They then informed Justice Graham that they were sent by the chief in the area, to invite people [judge] to the kingdom in order to explain properly to the understanding of some mining cases from the area that are currently pending in court.
Acts of humiliation
The Presiding Judge knew that the behavior of the two men was despicable because there were many mining cases before the court that he was presiding over to decide.
When he considered the actions of the defendants as a trap to tilt his decision in a certain direction, he rushed out and ordered them to be detained.
Afterwards, they were charged with contempt and brought to court to tell the court what had transpired between them and Judge Graham in private.
The two men said nothing about what they told the judge in the packed courtroom.
As a result, Judge Graham told the open court what the two men said in his chambers.
The lawyer asked for clemency
Knowing the implications of the actions of the two, the lawyer, in turn, asked the judge not to give a custodial sentence.
Lawyers took turns to admit that the actions of the two are contempt of court, the offenders can be given a prison sentence, but they ask that they should be forgiven and not given a custodial sentence, they openly admit their mistakes in court.
According to them, an open rebuke of the accused in court is enough and he is also a first offender.
After listening to the lawyers, Judge Graham, while giving his verdict warned the public not to visit the judge in an effort to get a good result.
“You are hereby convicted of contempt and ordered to sign a six-month good behavior bond,” Judge Graham said.
Source: graphic.com.gh
| Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not reflect Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no legal or other responsibility for the accuracy of the content. Please report inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a priority. |
Featured Videos