Democracy Hub: Deputy AG slams defense team for failing to disclose pregnant protester’s condition

Accra, Ghana - A heated debate has erupted in Ghana after the Office of the Attorney General expressed disappointment over the failure of lawyers representing Vera, a four-months pregnant protester, to disclose her pregnancy during her bail hearing.

Vera was arrested during a Democracy Hub demonstration and remanded in custody for two weeks.

In an interview with Citi News, deputy Attorney General Alfred Tuah Yeboah stated that it was the defense counsel's responsibility to inform the court of their client's pregnancy, as the court cannot verify such details independently. 

Yeboah emphasized that while there is no explicit requirement to disclose pregnancy during bail applications, revealing this information could have influenced the court's decision.

Yeboah stressed that Vera's legal team neglected their duty to disclose her condition, thereby depriving the court of crucial information that could have impacted her bail status. The law mandates disclosure of pregnancy during sentencing, but not explicitly during bail applications.

 “On this issue about the pregnant person, whether she’s pregnant or not, it’s not something that I can confirm for now, but the law on these matters is very clear. Now, when someone is pregnant and she’s stood before a law court, and the court is considering whether to grant bail or not to grant bail, the lawyer of a certain accused person must make it known to the court that his client is pregnant and provide the evidence,” he stated.

“So the court, considering the bail application, they want to look at that aspect of it. But the courts are also mandated by law. When they convict a female person, and it’s about to sentence the female, the court is mandated to inquire whether the female, that accused person, is pregnant. So when it comes to the grant of bail, the law does not mandate the judges to inquire, but when it comes to sentencing, that is where the judge prefers to do that.”

“On this particular case, I’ve checked with the attorneys who were in court yesterday, and from what we have been told, the issue of the pregnancy of an accused person never came up in court for the court’s consideration.

“And so if indeed one of the accused persons is pregnant, then the counsel for that accused person feels it is his duty to disclose that information to the court.”

“So if there’s any blame, I’d rather lay it on the doorsteps of the lawyer for that accused person and I’ve gone to the extent also to find out from the CID whether that information of pregnancy came to be a notice, whether that accused person disclosed to them that she was pregnant and there’s nothing from their end to that effect,” he added.

Source: Lead News Online