The Office of the Attorney-General has withdrawn the extradition proceedings against Frederick Kumi, popularly known as Abu Trica, at the Gbese District Court, effectively rendering moot a certiorari application pending before the High Court in Accra.
The withdrawal was communicated to the High Court during proceedings in the court, presided over by Ladyship Halimah El-Alawa Abdul-Bassit on the application challenging the legality of processes initiated against the applicant in the lower court.
Addressing the court, Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, informed the judge that the Attorney-General had discontinued the prosecution of the fugitive applicant at the district court.
“A while ago, the Honourable Attorney-General withdrew the fugitive applicant from prosecution in the court below. That means, my Lady, that the application which is before my Lady has become moot,” Dr Srem-Sai submitted.
However, counsel for the applicant, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, contested the mootness of the application, arguing that despite the withdrawal of the extradition process, Abu Trica remained in state custody.
“My Lady, this is one of the rare occasions where there is a gap between the letter of the law and the functional effect of the law. The Honourable Attorney-General says the applicant is no longer the subject of prosecution, yet he remains in the bosom of the Republic and has been brought before this honourable court in handcuffs,” he said.
Counsel maintained that the Republic must clarify the legal basis for the continued detention of his client, insisting that the issues raised in the certiorari application were capable of reoccurrence and, therefore, not moot. He prayed the court to direct the parties to file written submissions.
In response, Dr Srem-Sai described the applicant’s position as an attempt to extend the court’s jurisdiction beyond the matters properly before it.
“The concern being raised by counsel is an attempt to extend the court’s jurisdiction beyond what is before the court,” he argued, adding that the facts grounding the certiorari application had fundamentally changed following the withdrawal of the prosecution.
“There is no law which says that an application for certiorari should be granted on a matter which has become completely moot,” the Deputy Attorney-General said, urging the court to allow the legal consequences of the termination of the prosecution to take effect.
The presiding judge noted that the court had been duly notified of the Attorney-General’s discontinuance of the case and questioned counsel on the effect of the notice of withdrawal.
Aligning with the Attorney-General’s position, the court held that once the applicant had been discharged following the withdrawal of the prosecution, the certiorari application could no longer stand.
“If counsel informs the court that the applicant has been discharged, then I am of the opinion that the application has become moot and same is struck out,” the court ruled.
Meanwhile, Abu Trica’s brief door to freedom was shut shortly, after the withdrawal at the district court, as he was immediately re-arrested by the police.
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