Private legal practitioner Sadat Haruna Alhassan says the Court of Appeal’s acquittal of former Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) Chief Executive Officer, Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, turns on a basic principle of criminal law that the burden of proof lies with the prosecution, not the accused.
Speaking on Gold Morning Conversation, Mr. Alhassan said he was yet to study the full ruling in detail but offered an initial reaction based on his review of the judgment.
He said the case centred on charges of conspiracy to steal and stealing, alongside additional charges including money laundering, explaining that a stealing charge can only succeed once the prosecution has fully proven every element of the offence.
“An accused person is not in a position to tell the court whether they committed the crime,” Mr Alhassan said.
He stressed that an accused person carries no obligation to prove their own innocence, since they did not bring the accusation against themselves. The burden, he explained, only shifts to the accused after the prosecution has first established its evidence.
Story by Ruth Quaye
