The High Court in Accra has postponed the hearing of Salomey Baffoe’s bail application to September 24 after the prosecution requested additional time to respond to the defence’s application.
Ms Baffoe is facing an allegation of abetting the publication of false information linked to social media personality Ghana Jollof.
Accra-based Citi News reported that an Assistant State Attorney, Carl Afedzi Forson, told the court that he was not the substantive lawyer handling the case and had only been informed that the Attorney-General’s Office received the bail application on Friday.
He explained that Monday was a public holiday and the application had therefore not yet been assigned to a lawyer within the office.
The prosecution subsequently asked the court for a short adjournment to enable it to prepare its response.
Defence counsel Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah opposed the request, arguing that the application concerned the liberty of his client and should therefore be treated with urgency.
He maintained that the State had been served with the application and had not claimed that it was served insufficiently.
Counsel further argued that bail applications involving the liberty of an accused person could be heard even during weekends, stressing that the time available to the State to respond should not be extended unnecessarily.
He cautioned that further delays could undermine the purpose of the application, particularly as his client could have spent almost the entire two-week remand period in custody before the prosecution responds.
In its ruling, the court acknowledged that the applicant’s liberty was at stake and stressed that the State could not treat the matter casually.
The court subsequently adjourned proceedings to September 24 and directed the Republic to file any processes it intends to rely on and serve them by 9:00 a.m.
The adjournment means the High Court will consider the prosecution’s response before determining the next step on Ms Baffoe’s request for bail.
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