Srem-Sai rejects claim Wontumi’s lawyers were blocked from moving applications
By DL News
Published
2 min read
He says the lawyers who appeared in court for the Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman were not instructed to move any motion.
Deputy Attorney-General Dr Justice Srem-Sai has disputed claims that lawyers for Chairman Wontumi were prevented from arguing pending applications before his conviction and sentencing.
He says the lawyers who appeared in court for the Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman were not instructed to move any motion.
According to him, they informed the High Court that their only instruction was to seek an adjournment.
Dr Srem-Sai made the comments on JoyNews on Tuesday.
He said public claims that the trial court denied the defence an opportunity to move its applications did not reflect what happened in court.
“The third claim that my learned friend, counsel for Wontumi, Samuel Atta Akyea, also made, that the lawyers that they sent to the court were not allowed to move the motion. Probably, again, my senior was not in court, so he probably didn't understand what happened,” he said.
He explained that the lawyer who appeared in place of Mr Atta Akyea told the court that the defence was only asking for a date.
“The junior that he sent, or his colleague lawyer that he sent, said that their instruction was to take a date, to take an adjournment. That was their instruction,” Dr Srem-Sai stated.
He added that when a lawyer tells the court that he has limited instructions, the court is entitled to treat that as the only request being made.
“When a lawyer comes to you to say that my instruction is this, what he is saying is that this is the only thing I'm asking,” he said.
The Deputy Attorney-General said the trial judge refused the adjournment after considering the explanation provided by the defence.
He said lead counsel had referred to a professional engagement outside the country, but the court found that the trial date had already been agreed to.
According to Dr Srem-Sai, the court’s position was that counsel could not rely on a prior arrangement that conflicted with a date he had accepted.
He also rejected suggestions that Chairman Wontumi had been denied his constitutional right to legal representation.
Dr Srem-Sai said another lawyer from the defence team later indicated that he had been instructed to continue handling the case even after conviction.
“The lawyer who handed over to lawyer Atta Akyea said that he had been instructed to continue the case even after conviction,” he noted.
He argued that this showed the accused was not abandoned or left without legal representation.
The Deputy Attorney-General urged lawyers and the public to read the court’s judgment before forming conclusions about the case.
He said anyone dissatisfied with the decision should challenge it through the appeal process rather than through public commentary.
His response follows criticism by Chairman Wontumi’s legal team after the High Court refused to adjourn proceedings before convicting and sentencing him.
