Covid-19: Grant long adjournment to yet-to-be resolved cases – Chief Justice to Judges

Judges and magistrates across Ghana have been directed to grant long adjournments to cases which do not require immediate resolution.

According to Ghana’s Chief Justice Anin Yeboah, the directive forms part of measures to curb the spread of the deadly Covid-19 in the country.

Ghana has already recorded 16 cases of the virus in the last 10 days, raising concerns about the health and safety of its citizens.

According to the Chief Justice, judges and magistrates should be flexible in granting adjournments during this period.

In a release to the media, Justice Yeboah also asked the Ghana Bar Association to urge its members to attend court without their clients.

The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) was pushing for the suspension of court sittings for at least 14 days following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Ghana.

Their call followed extensive consultations with the Judicial Secretary regarding the current heightened concerns about the coronavirus.

The association also advised all lawyers to “remain calm and help in the education drive in their communities to assist people to understand the guidelines which have been put by the relevant authorities.”

Kumasi hotel killing case adjourned to April 9 over Coronavirus outbreak

In a related development, the Asokwa District Court on Thursday adjourned the Kumasi hotel killing case to April 9, 2020.

It follows an earlier directive by the Chief Justice restricting the movement of remand prisoners standing trial at various courts in order to prevent a possible outbreak of the deadly disease from spreading.

His wife, Belinda Awuku has also been granted bail by a Kumasi High Court, prosecution told court on Thursday, March 19, 2020.

Though Lawyer for the accused persons was not in court, presiding judge, Her Worship Rosemarie Afua Asante however demanded copies of the bail application since the court was a place of records.

The case was subsequently adjourned to April 9, 2020.

Attack

Belinda Awuku while being escorted by the police after court sitting will not escape insults from the grieving family.

It was chaotic outside the court as one of the family members who became infuriated over the court’s decision assaulted the suspect.

Spokesperson of the family who doubles as the complainant in the case Godfred Owusu Afriyie says they are surprised at the turn of events.

“We are very surprised the High Court has granted her bail on the blind side of the lower court. But we are still monitoring proceedings in the coming days”, he said.

Background

The couple is standing trial over the gruesome killing of Comfort Owusu Afriyie a 46-year-old restaurant operator at Asafo, in Kumasi.

Afriyie was last seen on New Year’s Eve but was confirmed dead the following morning at the Cedar Crescent Hotel in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital.

She was lodging in one of the hotel rooms with Edwin Awuku, 42, on January 2, 2020 when the incident occurred at about 1am local time.

An earlier police report sighted by Dailymailgh.com suggested that the suspect and the deceased were both attacked in an armed robbery case while in their hotel room on that fateful day.

Preliminary investigations have, however, revealed that the deceased was shot and killed by her boyfriend, police in the Ashanti Region said in a statement on Tuesday, January 7.

Police have, however, denied an incident of armed robbery attack in the hotel as widely reported.

By Jonathan Ofori, Daily Mail GH