General News of Monday, 8 November 2021
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2021-11-08Coup trial: Mac Palm’s lawyer concludes cross examination of star witness
Dr Fredrick Yao Mac Palm is the alleged mastermind of a plot to overthrow government
• Lawyer for Dr. Fredrick Yao Mac Palm ends cross-examination of third prosecution witness
• Witness maintains that Dr. Mac Palm was the leader of a plot to destabilise the country and overthrow the government
• Trial continues with more defense cross examination
Counsel for the first accused person in the ongoing coup trial, Epriam A. Vordoagu
Read full articlehas concluded his cross-examination of the third prosecution witness, Staff Sergeant Awarf Sule.
Bringing his cross-examination to an end on Monday, November 8, 2021, the lawyer for Dr. Yao Mac Palm further sought to pin the motive of a coup plot on Sergeant Awarf.
Sergeant Awarf in his testimony and evidence in chief had earlier told the court that the Managing Director of Citadel Hospital contacted him somewhere in 2018 to help him stage a coup d’etat.
The lawyer at a point in the cross-examination suggested to the witness that contrary to his testimony, he was the one pushing his client about a coup d’etat, assuring him that he could get him military officers to carry out the bidding.
After playing portions of secret video recordings of the activities carried out by the accused persons, the lawyer, relying on some statements made by the witness in the video said “have you heard yourself” to which the witness replied “yes.”
“And you proposed contract killing of the executives,” the defense counsel queried further.
To this, the witness replied “I was asking Dr Mac Palm what he wanted us to do for him because we were going to do what he wants.
“Dr was asking that are we going to chase them in their house one by one. I asked whether he wants it in a way of contract killing one by one
“And he said no we should rather capture the president and his executives so that we separate them in uncompleted buildings at different locations,” he added.
However, the defense counsel disputed the claims of the witness saying such assertion was not backed by the evidence he has presented before the court.
“Let me further put it to you that what you just attributed to A1 is not borne out of the video or its transcribe,” the lawyer questioned, to which the witness again insisted on his position saying “what I said about Dr Mac Palm is true.”
On his position of the coup plot being an idea mooted by the witness, Lawyer Vorduagu told the witness that “the idea of coup d’etat has been your brainchild and you spared no efforts within the period to bring out ideas and suggestions in furtherance of that.”
The witness however maintained that the first accused person was the main brain behind the plot to overthrow the government.
Among other things, the defense counsel also raised questions about the credibility of the video and audio recordings tendered as evidence by witness.
Meanwhile, the sitting of the High Court hearing the case against the ten accused persons will continue on Tuesday with counsel for four of the accused persons, continuing his cross examination that commenced after counsel for the first accused ended his.
Lawyer Victor Kwajoga Adawudu has in the meantime filed for a stay of proceedings pending a decision of the Supreme Court on the admission of video and audio tapes presented by the prosecution into evidence.
Lawyers of the accused persons last week grounded their objections against the admission of the tapes on originality, authenticity, and relevance of the recordings, as well as breach of the accused person’s right to privacy.
However, the court in a ruling Tuesday the said recordings had passed the admissibility test and as such are admissible.
The ten accused persons are standing a High Court trial for allegedly plotting to destabilise the country in order to take over the government.
The accused persons include Dr Frederick Mac-Palm, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dr Benjamin Agordzo, Colonel Samuel Kodzo Gameli, Bright Alan Debrah Ofosu (a fleet manager), Johannes Zikpi (a civilian employee of the Ghana Armed Forces) and Donya Kafui, aka Ezor (a blacksmith).
The prosecution’s case is based on the evidence of video and audio recordings gathered by Staff Sergeant Awarf Sule who was allegedly contacted by the leader of the group, Dr Frederick Yao Mac Palm to aid them in their activities.
