The Member of Parliament for the Assin-North constituency, James Gyakye Quayson, has filed a fresh application at the Supreme Court to quash the Accra High Court decision to hear his criminal trial on a daily basis.
He is also asking the apex court to bar the court from further continuing with the hearing of the matter until the Attorney-General furnishes him with a full set of documents against him in the matter.
At the High Court today (July 14) where Quayson has pleaded not guilty to charges of forgery and perjury, his lead counsel, Tsatsu Tsikata, notified the court about the latest application at the apex court and added that his client had also filed an application at the Court of Appeal to stay proceedings pending an appeal brought before it.
He, therefore, prayed the court to adjourn the trial pending the proceedings filed at the higher courts.
But the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, urged the court to disregard the prayer by Mr Tsikata.
He argued that there was no legal basis preventing the court from continuing with the matter pending the determination of the two processes
The Court presided over by Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh subsequently adjourned the matter to July 18, 2023, to rule on the matter.
Charges
Mr. Quayson is facing charges of forgery and perjury in relation to certain alleged offenses in the run-up to the 2020 Assin North parliamentary election.
He has pleaded not guilty to five counts of forgery of passport or travel certificate, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury, and false declaration for office.
It is the case of the prosecution that Mr. Quayson allegedly made a false statement to the Passport Office that he did not hold a passport to another country when he applied for a Ghanaian Passport.
In addition, the prosecution has accused Mr. Quayson of making a false declaration to the Electoral Commission (EC) to the effect that he (Quayson) did not owe any allegiance to a foreign country when he filed to contest as a candidate for the Assin North seat.