Court of Appeal strikes out AG's application to stay execution of Sedina Tamakloe's acquittal

Christine Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu's acquittal was the subject of an application filed by the Attorney-General seeking to stay its execution, which the Court of Appeal struck out as withdrawn on Wednesday, August 12. The State informed the court that it had filed a notice of withdrawal on August 10, effectively ending the application before the Court of Appeal. The Attorney-General had previously asked the court to suspend the effect of the acquittal pending the determination of a further appeal, arguing that allowing the acquittal to take immediate effect could create an opportunity for Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu to leave the jurisdiction.

Lawyers for Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu objected to the manner of withdrawal, arguing that the Attorney-General should have sought the court's permission before filing the notice, especially since the court had set Wednesday for its ruling. Counsel for Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu, Sidney Antonio, stated, "Today's date was given by the court for the court to deliver its ruling and we were just served yesterday with a notice of withdrawal. We believe the proper thing should have been for the Attorney-General to have sought leave of the court before going ahead and withdraw because today's business was for delivering of ruling and that should have gone on today."