Former Member of Parliament for Asante Akim North and lawyer, Mr Andy Appiah-Kubi, has defended his decision to withdraw from representing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, before the conclusion of his illegal mining trial, saying the courtroom environment had become unsuitable for the effective administration of justice.
Mr Appiah-Kubi rejected suggestions that his withdrawal weakened the defence, arguing that the legal team which took over had sufficient opportunity to pursue any additional steps it considered necessary.
“I gave my reasons at the time that because of the environment that we had created as prosecution and defence, and even the court, it was not conducive for us to pursue justice under the circumstances,” he said on TV3’s Keypoints
According to Mr Appiah-Kubi, disagreements among participants in the proceedings had affected the atmosphere in court.
“Sometimes personality clashes may bring a situation in the courtroom that is not conducive enough for us to be able to collectively seek justice,” he stated.
He explained that stepping aside allowed another legal team to continue the case without being constrained by the circumstances he believed existed at the time.
“I thought that at that time opting out to bring in a new person who would continue was the appropriate thing to do,” he said.
Mr Appiah-Kubi also dismissed suggestions that the incoming lawyers were denied the opportunity to strengthen the defence.
He noted that they could have applied to recall prosecution or defence witnesses, called fresh witnesses or sought additional court records if they believed the evidence before the court was inadequate.
“If you found the evidence inadequate, you could recall witnesses. You even had the opportunity to recall prosecution witnesses, defence witnesses and call fresh witnesses,” he said.
According to him, because no such applications were made, it suggested the succeeding legal team considered the available record sufficient for the defence.
