Court adjourns review application by Charles Bissue against OSP

The Human Rights Court, on Wednesday, adjourned a judicial review applica­tion by Charles Bissue against the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to January 15, 2024.

Mr. Bissue is asking the court to quash an arrest warrant he alleges was obtained by the OSP on June 7, 2023, for his arrest.

He claims that the OSP lied to obtain the warrant.

On June 15, 2023, the Human Rights Court granted a motion ex-parte for interim injunction filed by Charles Bissue to restrain the OSP from enforcing a pur­ported arrest warrant.

The court injuncted the OSP from arresting Charles Bissue for 10 days.

Subsequently, the OSP filed an affidavit in opposition to the sub­stantive application and recount­ed in paragraphs 21-23 thereof, that the purported arrest warrant the court injuncted does not exist, and that Charles Bissue had misled the court in the ex-parte application into believing its existence.

The paragraphs further stated that Charles Bissue’s misrepre­sentations to the court stemmed from his mere suspicion of the existence of an arrest warrant he claimed was issued on June 7, 2023.

Consequently, the court was misled to injunct a non-existent warrant.

On December 6, 2023, when the case was called, the judge took umbrage at the said para­graphs 21-23 of the affidavit in opposition of the OSP were scandalous depositions against the court and accordingly struck them out.

The OSP had stated that paragraphs 21-23 of its affidavit in opposition do not amount to scandalous depositions against the court, but rather a simple and reasonable statement of fact that the purported arrest warrant referred to by Charles Bissue does not exist, and that Charles Bissue misled the court into believing the existence of a non-existent document.