Defence counsel prays for the release of embattled #FixTheCountry convener
Prosecution fails to show for Oliver Barker-Vormawor trial
The judge hearing the case against #FixTheCountry Movement convener Oliver Mawusi Barker-Vormawor has cautioned the prosecution team handling the trial to show seriousness.
This was after the state prosecution team failed to show up when the case was called in court on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.
The defence counsel led by Justice Srem Sai, citing the absence of the prosecution, among other reasons, prayed the court to discharge his client.
A police prosecutor, Chief Inspector George Doe, who was in court, asked the judge to stand down proceedings for an hour for the prosecution team to turn up, but the defence counsel maintained that an hour delay would not change the facts of the case in any way.
The police prosecutor told the court that the charges pressed against the accused are an indictable offence, and by its nature, the police must furnish the office of the Attorney General with documents of the case for advice to be issued.
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He noted that the accused had been brought to the magistrate court for committal proceedings, but a higher court will hear the substantive case against him.
Displeased with the absence of the prosecution team, the Circuit Court Judge hearing the case as an additional magistrate, Eleanor Barnes Botwe, bemoaned the conduct of the state prosecutors.
In a very strong statement of caution, the presiding judge stated that she would not tolerate any show of unseriousness on the part of the prosecution team.
She adjourned the case to Tuesday, March 29, 2022, emphasizing that "the court will be compelled to advise" itself should the prosecution fail to show up in court for the next adjournment.
The judge asked that the suspect be taken into custody again until the next sitting on the case.
Meanwhile, the Tema High Court will, Wednesday, March 16, 2022, deliver its ruling on a bail application filed by the defence counsel.
The application at the High Court was filed following a decision by the magistrate court to deny Oliver Mawusi Barker-Vormawor bail, citing lack of jurisdiction in relation to the charges against the accused.
An earlier effort by the defence counsel to get a Supreme Court ruling on the magistrate court's jurisdiction to grant their client bail proved futile, causing the lawyers to file the bail application at the High Court.
Oliver Barker-Vormawor was arrested on Friday, February 11, 2022, after arriving at the Kotoka International Airport from the United Kingdom.
He was arrested in connection with a Facebook post in which he stated he "will do the coup" himself if parliament passes a 1.5% Electronic Transactions Levy bill into law.
According to the police, the statement by the activist showed clear intent on his part to subvert the constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
