The lawyers representing the former National Signals Bureau Director, Kwabena Adu-Boahene, have explained that they walked out of the court after the presiding judge declined their request for an adjournment.
According to Samuel Atta Akyea, after the judge refused their request, they could no longer continue to sit in the court room.
The defence team, led by Samuel Atta Akyea, had informed the court that they had filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking to prohibit Justice Nyadu from continuing with the trial, citing bias.
Counsel therefore pleaded with the trial judge to suspend proceedings until the apex court ruled on the matter, however their pleas were denied.
“The judge is saying no, he won’t grant us the adjournment and that he’s ready to continue the case,” Mr. Atta Akyea told reporters after the walkout.
He questioned the judge’s decision to continue the trial despite the pending application before the Supreme Court.
“As to why the judge is in an ambulance route to continue the case and cannot wait for the Supreme Court for one week, it leaves much to be desired,” he said.
“I’m caught between a rock and a hard place. The ambivalence is that you want to disqualify a judge from hearing the case, yet the same judge is sitting to continue the case. I can’t answer that in the Supreme Court, so I needed to leave the chamber,” he explained.
Legal analyst and officer of the court Dennis Odame Esq. of TV3, described the incident as unusual but provided context for the events.
He explained that Mr. Atta Akyea’s team had filed an application at the Supreme Court in relation to matters arising from the ongoing trial.
The defence argued that certain documents the prosecution intended to tender as evidence were prejudicial and could compromise national security.
However, the trial court had allowed the documents to be tendered, causing the defence to file an application seeking to prohibit the judge from continuing the case, alleging bias.
When the defence team requested an adjournment pending the Supreme Court’s decision, the prosecution opposed it, arguing that the mere filing of an application does not automatically require the court to halt proceedings.
The judge subsequently denied the adjournment request, leading to the defence’s walkout in protest.
Court proceedings were later adjourned to October 30 after the accused Mr. Adu-Boahene made unsuccessful attempts to reach his lawyers to return to court.
