Court adjourns Salomey Baffoe bail application to September 24

The High Court in Accra has adjourned the hearing of Salomey Baffoe’s bail application to September 24, after prosecutors asked for more time to respond.

Baffoe is accused of abetting the publication of false information by a TikTok account operating under the name “Ghana Jollof”.

The prosecution told the court that the Attorney-General’s Office needed additional time to file a response to the bail application.

Assistant State Attorney Carl Afedzi Forson said he was not the substantive lawyer handling the matter.

He explained that although the Attorney-General’s Office was served with the application last Friday, Monday was a public holiday and the application had not yet been assigned to a lawyer for a response.

The State therefore asked for a short adjournment to prepare and file the necessary processes.

Baffoe’s lawyer, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, opposed the request.

He argued that the matter involved the liberty of his client and should not be treated like an ordinary civil application.

According to him, the prosecution had been served and had not claimed that it was short-served.

He said bail applications could be heard even over weekends because they concerned personal liberty.

Mr Awuah argued that the public holiday should not be used to justify delay.

He further submitted that the State had already had enough time to respond.

The defence said any further delay would defeat the purpose of the bail application, especially as Baffoe would have spent about two weeks in custody by the time the State filed its response.

The court, in ruling on the request, acknowledged that the applicant’s liberty was at stake.

It said the State could not take the matter for granted.

The court, however, granted the adjournment and directed the Republic to file any processes it intended to rely on.

The State was also ordered to serve the defence by 9:00 a.m. on September 24.

Baffoe remains in custody pending the determination of the bail application.