Legal practitioner Oliver Barker-Vormawor has questioned the decision to deny bail to Salomey Awiti Bafoh, arguing that judicial discretion must still be exercised within constitutional principles.
Barker-Vormawor acknowledged that bail is a matter of judicial discretion but said such discretion can be challenged where the circumstances raise concerns.
“Bail is discretionary, but discretion can be criticised,” he said during a panel discussion on JoyNews on the programme, Newsfile.
Barker-Vormawor said he believed the discretion exercised in Bafoh’s case could be criticised.
“I think in this particular case, the discretion was wrongly applied,” he said.
He stressed that questioning the bail decision did not necessarily mean accusing the judge of being partisan.
“That does not necessarily mean that the judge is partisan,” Barker-Vormawor said.
Instead, he argued that courts should be open to scrutiny when decisions affecting a person’s liberty are made.
Salomey Awiti has not pleaded guilty to charges relating to the alleged publication and circulation of false news and was denied bail before being remanded.
