The Accra High Court’s judgment requiring investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas to testify behind closed doors against Kwesi Nyantakyi for his film Number 12 has been overturned by the Supreme Court.
The talented investigative journalist will now be required to show up in court without his trademark mask due to this decision.
On Tuesday, November 8, 2022, under the direction of Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, the Court granted a petition for certiorari submitted by Kwesi Nyantakyi to overturn the decision of the High Court 2, Criminal Division, Accra allowing Anas Aremeyaw Anas to testify in camera as a prosecution witness in the criminal case known as Republic v. Kwesi Nyantakyi & Another.
You might remember that in March 2022, at a Case Management Conference, the High Court’s criminal division, which was chaired by Her Ladyship Elfreda Dankyi, ruled that the prosecution’s ORAL request for Anas Aremeyaw Anas to testify in secret as a prosecution witness in the case of Republic v. Kwesi Nyantakyi and Others should be granted.
By way of lead attorney Thaddeus Sory of Sory@Law, Mr. Nyantakyi requested an order of certiorari from the Supreme Court to overturn the High Court’s decision to grant Anas Aremeyaw Anas a dispensation after being dissatisfied with it.
The application was based on three premises: that the High Court’s order violated the applicant’s human rights as protected by the 1992 Constitution; that the order was made in violation of court procedures and rules, which called for a formal application to be made in place of an oral one in such circumstances; and that the court’s order exceeded its authority.
The High Court’s order was revoked by the Supreme Court because it lacked the necessary legal support, and the Supreme Court upheld the application.
According to the ruling made today, Anas Aremeyaw Anas must testify in open court without any privileges, just like any other witness does in a courtroom.
