Veteran journalist and Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has disclosed how he turned down an offer of legal representation from former President John Agyekum Kufuor during a politically-charged trial.
Speaking in a YouTube interview with Kafui Dey, Pratt recounted the circumstances that led to his arrest and subsequent trial, insisting that he chose to defend himself because he believed the case was politically motivated.
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“… I suspect [it happened] in 1992-3. I was arrested with Adu-Boahene and we were charged with obstruction of justice. There was a dynamite attack on the Kotoka International Airport by a group called Farrigan. This group was led by an Alhaji Damba and they had come from outside to carry out this operation and they came to see us. Of course, I told him I was not interested,” he said.
Pratt added that despite distancing himself from the group, he and another individual were later arrested in connection with the incident.
“Adu-Boahene apparently told him he was not interested and so on but during the investigations into these explosions, Adu-Boahene and I were picked up and we were charged with the obstruction of justice and tried at the National Public Tribunal.
“So, I actually went through interrogation. It was a proper charge sheet and so on. I think that was about the only time that I had been told why I had been arrested,” he added.
He further revealed that during the trial, John Agyekum Kufuor offered to represent him in court.
However, Pratt disclosed that he declined the offer based on his principles.
“Interestingly, President Kufuor offered to defend me, to be my lawyer in the trial. Well, if you see the photographs of the trial, you will see President Kufuor sitting behind me and he wanted to be my lawyer, but I refused because I insisted that the trial was political, had nothing to do with the law.
“It was a political trial and I thought that nobody could articulate the politics of the moment better than I could do so I did not accept him as my lawyer, but he still helped me. He actually took my notes. So, you see him sitting behind me in the tribunal taking notes and so on,” Pratt stated.
According to him, although he rejected the legal assistance, Kufuor still played a supportive role throughout the proceedings.
“And he took my notes and it was very helpful. I defended myself but I knew the trial was not going anywhere. I was absolutely right because you see; to be tried in a court, you have to read your caution statement and I knew what I put in the caution statement. I knew that that caution statement could not be read anywhere.
“My caution statement was almost a book and I put everything in it. I remember when I was writing the statement, one hour had passed, I was still writing and so on. There was Adu-Boahene sitting by me and then he looked at me and said, what are you writing? Why are you writing so many things? You’re going to implicate all of us.
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“I said, just relax. I know what I’m doing. Nobody can read this statement in any court anywhere in the world and I suspect that that was one of the reasons why the trial did not go far,” he recounted.
