Baffour Gyan's lawyer not surprised at Kenu

Lawyer Kissi Agyabeng says he is not surprised by the withdrawal of the assault case against ex Ghana striker Baffour Gyan as the charge would have been very tough to prove.

The defence counsel appeared set to do his cross-examination on Friday at the Kumasi Circuit Court when the complainant – Daniel Kenu – rose to tell the court he is no longer interested in pursuing the case.

Kenu alleged he was physically assaulted by a group of people led by the brother of the Black Stars captain as a reaction to an unpalatable question he posed to Asamoah Gyan in the lead up to Ghana’s opening 2015 AFCON qualifier against Uganda.

The Graphic journalist had initiated a court action after claiming he was assaulted by a group of people led by Baffour Gyan and Samuel Anim Addo, the business manager of Asamoah Gyan.

But the renowned journalist surprisingly told the court on Friday his decision to discontinue the case on health and family grounds.

The accused persons- Baffour Gyan and Samuel Anim Addo – were consequently acquitted and discharged as the case was struck out of court.

Defence counsel Kissi Agyabeng however says he wasn’t surprised by the turn of events on Friday. “I wasn’t surprised at all because as a defence counsel you should be prepared for anything,” he told asamoahgyan3.com.

“This was an assault case – a misdeameanour – which had taken a national twist due to the personalities involved.

“We are talking about Asamoah Gyan, Baffour Gyan, Samuel Anim Addo and a renowned journalist and don’t forget with the backing of the Ghana Journalist Association who probably wanted to prove a point with this case.

“But after studying the case and all that, I knew that for the prosecution to be successful, they needed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that indeed he was assaulted by the accused persons.

“And in the complainant’s own statement to the police, he didn’t say conclusively that the accused persons were the one who attacked him but then they led some people to do so.

“So I had prepared myself to proceed with my cross-examination on that tangent only to be told by the complainant that he wants to discontinue with the case.

“I believe there was a lot of pressure on the prosecution due to the personalities involved and I believe it was going to be difficult for them to prove beyond reasonable doubt and win this case.”

Rumours are already rife that the Graphic journalist had been bribed to drop the case, an assertion lawyer Agyabeng completely dismisses.

“If I were not in Ghana or not a Ghanaian, I would be very surprised by these rumours but in Ghana, people thrive a lot on rumours and it is the genesis this case anyway,” he adds.

“The question the journalist [Asamoah Gyan] asked was based purely on rumours and therefore I am not surprised but these rumours are simply false and therefore should be treated as such.”