Stop appointing judges to preside over ‘political vendetta’ cases – Lawyers to Akufo-Addo

A group of Lawyers known as Lawyers in Defence of Democracy (LINSOD) has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to desist from appointing High Court judges to preside on what he terms as “political vendetta” cases.

According to the group, appointing of Court of Appeal Judges to preside over political cases in high courts is a deliberate attempt to jail some leading members of the opposition party claiming that some of the judges are members of the governing party.

They, therefore, urged the leadership of the judicial service and the executive members not to compromise the integrity of the judicial service as they “uphold professionalism for the benefit of the generation yet unborn.”

In a statement, the legal team said: “we pause to ask if in the random allocation of the cases to the courts, these additional high court judges from the appeal court are also factored in or if these are appointments made for a specific target.”

“Fact is the appointment of these additional high court judges does not do away with the perceived bias against these “politically exposed” accused persons, especially so when we have leading members of the party in government threatening to jail some leading members of the opposition party even before the 2020 elections.”

It added, “We call for the immediate halt of these additional high court judges being appointed to preside upon these seemingly “political vendetta” cases. we remind the leadership of the judiciary of the admonition of Justice Enp Sowah where he charges the leadership and indeed the whole judge fraternity to keep or help keep the flag of the judiciary flying high and ensure that the profession as a whole provides leadership and the best counsel on these professional matters which we have all held in trust for the benefit of generations yet unborn.”

Below is the full statement