The High Court in Accra has directed the prosecution to file and serve its response to the bail application of Salomey Baffoe, who is accused of abetting the publication of false information by social media personality Ghana Jollof.
The court adjourned the bail proceedings to September 24 after the prosecution requested additional time to respond to the application.
An Assistant State Attorney, Carl Afedzi Forson, told the court that he was not the substantive prosecutor assigned to the case and had only been informed that the Attorney-General’s Office received the bail application on Friday.
He explained that Monday was a public holiday and the application had consequently not yet been assigned to a lawyer within the office for a response.
Mr Forson therefore asked the court for a short adjournment to enable the prosecution to prepare its response.
Counsel for Baffoe, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, opposed the request, arguing that the application concerned the accused person’s liberty and should therefore receive urgent consideration.
He maintained that the prosecution had been duly served with the application and had not claimed that it was served late or improperly.
According to counsel, applications affecting the liberty of an accused person were different from ordinary civil proceedings where parties might require a specified period of notice.
He argued that such applications could be dealt with even outside regular working days and that the relevant time for the State to respond had already begun running.
Counsel further cautioned that continued delays could undermine the purpose of the bail application, pointing out that Baffoe would have spent about two weeks in custody by the time the prosecution eventually filed and served its response.
In its ruling on the request for an adjournment, the court acknowledged that the applicant’s liberty was directly at stake and cautioned the State against treating the matter casually.
The court subsequently adjourned the case to September 24 and directed the Republic to file any processes it intended to rely on and serve them on the defence by 9:00 a.m.
The next hearing is expected to determine the pending bail application after the court has received the prosecution’s response.
