His comments were in response to the Special Prosecutor’s recent briefing on ongoing investigations.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Thursday, October 31, Mr Paintsil said the Special Prosecutor’s frequent press conferences and detailed public briefings on ongoing cases contradict the principles of fair trial and due process.

“I think what the OSP is doing is highly and very unprofessional. He is conducting a trial in the court of public opinion, which is against the very tenet and essence of a trial under our system of adjudication,” he said.

Mr Paintsil described the conduct of the OSP as “most abhorrent and shameful”, questioning what motivates such public commentary on cases that are yet to be tried in court.

The lawyer emphasised that every accused person is entitled to the presumption of innocence and accused the Special Prosecutor of undermining that constitutional right.

“I don’t know what pushes him to do all the kinds of things that he does by giving all these press statements. He is acting as if the media are going to be the judges in this matter. It’s very, very unfair,” he remarked.

His comments come after the OSP’s latest press briefing, during which Kissi Agyebeng announced that former Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and several other former government officials will be prosecuted following investigations into alleged corruption and related offences.

According to the Special Prosecutor, the investigation uncovered evidence of serious financial irregularities involving top officials of the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), as well as individuals connected to Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML).

Mr Agyebeng said the OSP will charge Mr Ofori-Atta along with:

• Ernest Akore, former Chef de Cabinet to the former Minister of Finance
• Emmanuel Kofi Nti, former Commissioner-General of the GRA
• Rev Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, former Commissioner-General of the GRA
• Isaac Crentsil, former Commissioner of the Customs Division of the GRA and General Manager of Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited
• Kwadwo Damoah, former Commissioner of the Customs Division of the GRA and Member of Parliament for Jaman South

He added that each of the named individuals will face charges of corruption and corruption-related offences before the end of next month.

Source: Emma Ankrah

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This, according to Mr Paintsil, is because the Service should not have interdicted them in the first place based on an alleged leaked recording of a plot to remove the Inspector General of Police (IGP), which is now the subject of a parliamentary probe.

Speaking to JoyNews, the lawyer said the action could have been taken only after the Committee had concluded its investigations.

“Even though, in my honest view, they now claim to have withdrawn the interdiction, it is giving the public an idea of what they want to do, and even worse, what I am hearing is that they are talking about a disciplinary hearing.

“That is a presumption that what they have heard so far suggests or is an indication that something wrong has taken place, but that is not proper because Parliament has not finished its inquiry, they have not come out with their findings, facts, recommendations, or whatever it is. So where did they fall on the view that there is evidence or a case to go for a disciplinary hearing and if it is so, what are they waiting for?

“So I am thinking that the way they are going about this is very embarrassing, and what it means is that somebody is not advising the IGP or their legal department is not doing good work,” he added.

Earlier, former Director General of the Police Criminal Investigations Department, Rtd. COP Bright Oduro, had described the interdiction as premature.

He was also of the view that no criminality has been established against the three police officers since Parliament has yet to conclude its investigation.

“I don’t know if it is the IGP or the Police Council that instructed the IGP to interdict the officers, but if it is coming from the IGP, then I think it is premature.

“He should have allowed this investigation to continue, and then we see the outcome, and if after that the officers had somehow misconducted themselves, then he would have called for a service inquiry.

“But where I sit, I don’t see any criminality in what they did, what one can say is that they misconducted themselves, but even that must be purely after investigation,” he explained.

Backing this stance, lawyer Paintsil said the Police Service could have conducted their own investigations before Parliament.

He also described the ongoing parliamentary probe as unnecessary.

“If they have reason to believe that some wrong has been done or some evidence that suggests indiscipline, then they don’t even have to wait for Parliament at all because under the Police Service Act, there is no requirement for them to wait for Parliament to finish its work.

“And with all due respect to Parliament, it is my view that this parliamentary hearing is an unnecessary thing that need not have been done because, under the Police Service Act, the Police Council has a right and a duty to conduct this inquiry.”

The three police officers were interdicted on Thursday, September 6, after a leaked tape emerged with the content suggesting a plot to oust the IGP, according to a former NPP Northern Regional Chairman, Bugri Naabu, who claims he recorded the conversation secretly.

The officers are Director General Technical of the Ghana Police Service, Commissioner of Police (COP) Alex George Mensah, Supt. George Lysander Asare and Emmanuel Gyebi.

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