Legal practitioner Samson Lardy Ayenini has disclosed that some judges in the country have collapsed and have been rushed to the hospital following an expose by investigative journalist Anas Arimeyaw Anas.
According to him, there are currently attempts by some of the judges, who have been captured on video taking bribes, to resign from their jobs and return their official vehicles to avoid embarrassment.
Investigative journalist Anas Arimeyaw Anas in a yet-to-be released video has caught more than 30 judges and about a 100 court official taking bribes.
They were all captured on camera receiving bribes or engaged in corrupt activities to influence justice.
The two-year investigative video, titled ‘Ghana in the Eyes of God – Epic of Injustice’ is set to premiere at the Accra International Conference Centre on September 22.
Speaking on the expose in an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Wednesday, Samson disclosed that some judges are currently trying to obtain an injunction to stop the premiere or public showing of the video.
Samson described the expose as “this is God, the ultimate judge, bearing his anger at the human beings who have been playing God.”
He quoted a colleague as complaining that a judge almost killed his career. “Sometimes you get to a court and a judge’s conduct and behaviour, over bearing behaviour, and being unnecessarily passionate and sometimes outright rude, insulting, driving you out of their court and embarrassing you before your client.”
“As we speak, there are some who have collapsed; there are some who have been rushed to hospital because of this tsunami. There are those who have made attempts to resign, their resignations are being refused and rejected,” the legal practitioner disclosed.
He added that, “there are still those who are seeking through the court process to injunct the broadcast of the video.”
In the expose, one of the judges is heard saying: “What if I release him (armed robbery suspect) on Friday and I don’t see you again? Oh I will get him off the hook on Friday but everything will depend on you.”
There are reports that, Anas Arimeyaw Anas has come under intense pressure, since the announcement of the investigation, from high-profile personalities to convince him to abandon the move to expose the rot in the country’s judiciary.
Legal practitioner, Ace Ankomah, speaking on the issue on the Super Morning Show said this is “a systemic problem” because there have been instances where he has been to court and dockets mysteriously get missing because someone has been paid not to produce it.
The Ghanaian system, he noted, has been designed to foster fraud. He called for a complete computerisation of the Ghanaian judiciary to curb the canker.
“There is no lawyer who can say he hasn’t come close to allegations of corruption in the course of our court work.” The thing about corruption, he added, is that there is no one who is willing to stand up and testify.
“This time, there is indeed ocular proof where these ladies and gentlemen are actually filmed receiving monies and speaking in a manner that suggest that there must have been either extortion under the criminal law or corruption.”
Ace was quick to add that, in spite what has been captured on video, “it still must go through the rigors of evidentiary rule… that a person is innocent until proven guilty.”
The legal practitioner was hopeful that Anas will release a list of judges who refused to be bribed.
