Lawyer questions 'double suspension' of High Court judges

A lawyer, Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo has questioned what he terms the "double suspension" of some High Court judges accused of bribery and corruption in the Anas exposé.

According to Nii Samoa Addo, Justice Gilbert Ayisi Addo for instance was earlier suspended in 2015 and wondered why the Presidency would be issuing a statement in May 2018 purporting to suspend him again.

According to Nii Samoa Addo, “Justices Dery, Logoh and Ayisi Addo are already on suspension pursuant to the fact that they are on half salary, not sitting and are not receiving their allowances”, hence the current government cannot suspend them again."

"...Per the recent ruling of the ECOWAS Court which has been fully endorsed by the AG [Attorney General] in a letter to the CJ [Chief Justice], all pending impeachment proceedings have been suspended.

"Indeed the CJ's committee has formally suspended sitting in full compliance with the directives of the ECOWAS Court and on the advice of the AG. This press release could not have come from the President especially when there is formal documentation of the suspension. How do u suspend them twice," Nii Addo wrote in a Facebook post.

• Related: Prez Akufo-Addo suspends 4 High Court judges

Adding, Nii Samoa Addo stated, "u can't suspend someone twice. Please contact the AG [Attorney General] for current developments before u issue such statement especially in light of her [Attorney General] letter to the CJ [Chief Justice] suspending all proceedings pending the determination of the ECOWAS case."

Nii Samoa Addo went ahead to provide a copy of the said earlier suspension letter [copy below] to support his argument.

Responding however, the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin said the suspension followed a letter sent to the President by the Chief Justice, where the request by the Judicial Council for the suspension of the 4 Justices of the High Court was made.

Below is a copy of the letter from the Chief Justice which Mr Arhin quotes to support the release of Wednesday May 9, 2018 statement.