The Senior State Attorney who is representing the IGP and the Attorney General in the case filed against the state by Multimedia Journalist, Latif Iddrisu failed to show up in court again after an initial pledge not to repeat the same act.
On the day the already protracted trial was expected to resume at the family court in Accra, the Senior State Attorney doing the case on behalf of the Attorney General failed to show up in court.
Her absence today is not the first time the AG’s representative has failed to show up in court with last minute notice to the court about her unavailability to cross examine the journalist, even after agreeing in court to be present at the last sitting.
The trial judge, His Lordship Abass Abubakari Adams at the last adjourned date offered ten days beginning April 2nd for the trial to continue, but the Senior State Attorney prayed the court for two days to be taken out of the ten days because of her unavailability on those days.
Her failure to show up today means that at her instance, three days have been taken out of the original ten days offered by the judge for the trial to move forward, further delaying justice for the Journalist.
Latif Iddrisu who was in court and ready for the day’s proceedings, was informed by the trial judge about the inability of the Senior State Attorney to make it to court when the case was called for hearing.
In a brief declaration, the judge adjourned the case to April 7th at 10am stating that “The case is adjourned at the instance of the Attorney-General’s representative who submitted a letter to the court this morning” about her unavailability.
Press freedom campaigners and advocates for democracy have over the years expressed concerns about the protracted nature of the case describing it as a blot on Ghana’s democracy and press freedom.
The journalist who appeared in the courtroom hours ahead of the already protracted trial, maintained his composure and expressed his determination to pursue the matter to its logical conclusion to ensure accountability within the police service and other security agencies.
Latif Iddrisu was brutally assaulted in the line of duty in March 2017 by some police officers at the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service.
He suffered a fractured skull when one of the officers hit him in the head with the butt of his gun during the assault.
