The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga East in the Upper East Region, Dr Dominic Akurutinga Ayine, has been set free from contempt of court by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court on Thursday decided to struck out a contempt charge against him after the court held that Dr Ayine, who is a former Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice had duly purged himself of contempt by apologising.
His lawyer, Mr Frank Beecham, thanked the court and said his client would “go and sin no more”
The former Deputy A-G is the first, and so far, only person to be cited and found guilty for contempt of court in relation to the 2020 presidential election petition filed by former President John Dramani Mahama, the candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), in the 2020 presidential election.
Contemptuous comments
Prior to Dr Ayine’s case, the court had warned lawyers, especially those representing the parties in the petition, not to make any comments relating to the petition, in accordance with the Legal Profession Act.
The court also warned lawyers who were not representing the parties but were serving as spokespersons for the petitioner and the second respondent to desist from twisting the facts.
The former Deputy A-G, who is not a lawyer in the case, but rather one of the spokespersons for the petitioner, found himself at the wrong side of the law when he accused the apex court of having a predetermined agenda to rule against the petitioner.
He made those comments in an interview with the media on February 16, 2021, after the court had dismissed an application by Mr Mahama, which was asking permission from the court to reopen his case to enable his lawyers subpoena the Chairperson of the EC, Mrs Jean Adukwei Mensa, to testify. The court, in exercise of its inherent powers, cited him for contempt of court, and summoned him to come and explain to the court why he (Ayine) should not be committed for contempt of court.
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