Former Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has defended the integrity of prosecutions carried out under his tenure.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra, the former Attorney General
emphasized that a failed prosecution does not equate to malicious prosecution.
“The fact that a prosecution fails does not mean that the prosecution is malicious. Malicious prosecution is when, without any basis, the prosecutor finds challenges against an accused person, just to intimidate him”
He explained that, “this cannot be the case when many of the accused persons have been held by the courts to have a case to answer.”
Mr. Dame pointed out notable figures such as Dr. Stephen Opuni, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Ernest Thompson, among others, have faced charges that the courts deemed substantial enough to warrant a trial.
He reiterated that the prosecution of these cases was based on solid legal grounds and not on any intention to intimidate.
“The state should be seriously worried if her attorney general demonstrates such ignorance of the basic principles of criminal law and the ingredients of offence which border on the protection of state funds or public property,” Dame added.
He also mentioned that despite the discontinuation of the case, the basis of the prosecution was sound.
Mr. Dame averred that none of the cases could be subjected to the attack of malicious prosecution, and that the chances of success in these cases were high.
“As I’ve shown from what I’ve stated, none of the cases can be subjected to the attack of malicious persuasion. So, he knows that the chances of his success in those cases are very high. That’s because our prosecution was not malicious”.
