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James Gyakye Quayson, the Assin North Member of Parliament on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress, has stated that he does not fear going to jail if found guilty in an ongoing criminal trial at the Accra High Court.
Quayson, however, stressed that he had unwavering confidence in Ghana’s criminal justice system and was certain that justice will be served at the end of the trial.
Asked in an interview on Accra-based Citi TV (August 22) about the possibility of being jailed, and whether he was afraid of that outcome, he responded: “No, why should I?
“I believe in the justice system. The fundamental thing about any judicial matter is that person intended to commit that crime. Did he plan it, I have not planned anything of such,” he stressed.
He continued: “My strongest conviction is that this is just a matter of time. When you believe you have done the right thing, you shouldn’t be afraid. I trust the court will deliver a very positive verdict. I trust my lawyers, I trust the conscience of the people.”
On February 12, 2022, the State charged James Gyakye Quayson with five counts; deceit of a public officer, forgery of a passport, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury, and false declaration, relative to his filings to contest in the 2020 parliamentary polls.
“So, I don’t fear going to jail at all,” he is quoted to have stressed after explaining the facts surrounding his trial.
Quayson drags AG to GLC
The lawmaker, last week, dragged the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, to the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council (GLC).
In his letter to the GLC, the MP explained that the actions of the minister are contrary to the rules of professional conduct, in relation to his criminal case at the High Court.
Detailing how this is, James Gyakye Quayson explained that this was occasioned at the last adjourned date of the hearing of the criminal trial against him at the High Court, Criminal Division 3, Accra.
He stated in the letter that the AG provided testimony in court that contravened with the testimony of his own witness.
“At the last adjourned date (19th July, 2023), during the cross-examination of the first prosecution witness, Richard Takyi-Mensah, after the witness had testified confirming that he had given a statement to the police to which he attached certain documents, which testimony is also reflected in the police statement itself, the Attorney-General, responding to the an application by my counsel for disclosure of the attachments the witness referred to, stated that there were no attachments to the court which, I am advised and believe to be true, is clearly contrary to the rules of the professional conduct by lawyers in a case.
“The ‘testimony’ provided by the Attorney-General contradicted the testimony of his own witness and was presented for the first time without any prior notice to my lawyers or myself as to the facts known to the prosecution,” the letter signed by James Gyakye Quayson said in part.
The embattled MP also stated some other instances of professional misconduct that he is seeking the GLC’s intervention on.
The case of June 16, 2023, when the A-G said that he, the MP, was headed to jail, is one other instance he stated in the letter.
“On 16th June 2023, when my lawyer was seeking to bring to the attention of the court that I was a candidate in the then pending parliamentary bye-election in the Assin North Constituency, the Attorney-General used the following insulting language against me: ‘This is what I describe as a very totally irresponsible step. Beside it, to apply to contest again when he knew that these proceedings were pending for which he can go jail,’” he added.
