The Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame has shared highlights of the trial of Gregory Afoko, the brother of former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Paul Awentami Afoko, who has been acquitted by an Accra High Court following a hung jury.
The Attorney-General said in a statement that the highlights should guide guide lawyers and the general public from making commentaries which have an “undue tendency to jeopardize the sound and efficient administration of justice.”
Afoko Verdict- A-G’s Press Release
“The instant case, particularly the unanimous verdict of the jury regarding the guilt of the 2nd accused for conspiracy to commit murder, whilst at the same time delivering a hung verdict in the case of the 1st accused on the same charge, highlights the severe challenges with the jury system, a situation the Attorney-General is taking steps to remedy as part of proposals for amendment of many parts of the criminal procedure laws of Ghana,” the statement said.
“The Attorney-General hereby respectfully, entreats members of the public, including lawyers, to be guided accordingly and desist from comments which have an undue tendency to jeopardise the sound and efficient administration of justice,” he added.
Gregory Afoko is expected to face another trial over the murder of Alhaji Adams Mahama, an Upper East Region Chairman of the NPP, in 2015.
Alhaji Mahama was murdered after acid was poured on him in a plot said to have been masterminded by Gregory Afoko with the support of Asabke Alangdi.
Alangdi was on Thursday, April 27 unanimously found guilty for conspiracy to commit murder by the seven-member jury.
He has been sentenced to death.
In the case of Afoko, the jury returned a 4:3 verdict over the charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Lawyers of Asabke Alangdi have served notice they will appeal the death sentence.
“How can a person conspired against himself, be found guilty and the person that he was accused of conspiring with is found not guilty,” one of the lawyers said.