Court orders Ali-Gabass to open defence Monday
The Accra Circuit Court Friday dismissed the motion of a stay of execution filed by the defence team of Sulley Ali-Gabass, the medical doctor accused of allegedly sodomising a 16-year-old student.
Advertisement
The court has, therefore, ordered the accused to open his defence on Monday, June 1, 2015.
The court, presided over by Mrs Rita Agyeman-Budu, gave its ruling in chambers.
The defence counsel had filed a motion of a stay of execution against the court’s earlier ruling on the application of no case.
However, the court did not rule on the motion on May 26, 2015 after the submission from both the defence counsel and the prosecution.
At the last sitting on May 8, 2015, the court cautioned the prosecution and the counsel for the accused person to desist from unnecessarily delaying the case.
The court had considered that the case had been pending before it since November 2014 and called for its expeditious trial.
The court on May 7, 2015 dismissed the application of “no case” filed by the counsel for Ali Gabass, Mr John Benson, and ordered the accused to open its defence on May 13 but the counsel failed to comply.
Other Trending Stories
Witnesses
In all, five witnesses, including the victim and Manasseh Azure, the journalist who first broke the sodomy story that led to the arrest and prosecution of Ali Gabass, had testified.
The other witnesses were the investigator, Dr Nii Aryee, a surgeon at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, who diagnosed the victim after fistula and anal rectal abscess surgical operation, and the victim’s father.
Background
According to the facts of the case, the victim is a student residing at Kasoa, while Ali-Gabass is a medical practitioner at the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital.
In September 2013, the victim encountered Ali-Gabass on Facebook and they became friends.
“They exchanged ideas online and communicated by phone for a while until October 2013 when Ali-Gabass arranged and met the victim at the Kasoa New Market area where he forcibly had anal sex with the victim in his car,” the prosecution claimed.
It said about 7 p.m. on December 28, 2013, the two met again at the same venue where Ali-Gabass was alleged to have had anal sex with the victim, after which he offered the boy a Samsung Galaxy mobile phone and GH¢20.
After the second sexual act, it said, the victim became ill and Ali-Gabass allegedly prescribed paracetamol tablets for him.
“The act was repeated at the same venue in February 2014,” it said.
According to the prosecution, in March and April 2014, Ali-Gabass lured the victim to his house at Alajo in Accra where he allegedly had another bout of anal sex with him.
“After the fifth incident, the victim started experiencing excruciating pains and complained to Ali-Gabass to give him money to attend hospital but he refused.
“Rather, he threatened the victim persistently via phone calls and managed to put fear in him from disclosing his ordeal,” the prosecution further claimed.