Jihad Chaaban
The Abeka District Court in Accra yesterday deferred judgement on the case in which Jihad Chabaan, the Ablemkpe branch manager of Mawarko Restaurant, is being tried for assaulting a cateress of the eatery, despite moves for out-of-court settlement.
The court, presided over by Victoria Guansah, had set yesterday to deliver its verdict but it was scuttled by a last-minute agreement.
Julio De Medeiros, lawyer for embattled Jihad, at the time the court was ready to deliver its judgement, said the parties had agreed for an out-of-court settlement after over three months of legal tussle.
According to Julio, the parties had had a number of meetings with Evelyn Boakye, the cateress (complainant), “and she is of the view that she wants the matter out of court.”
Jihad’s lawyer stated that they had filed the terms of settlement and urged the court to rest its own judgement.
That was not the first time Julio was pushing for an out-of-court settlement.
It may be recalled that in April he advocated amicable settlement but the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Hanson Armah, objected to the application, insisting that the case should travel its full length.
The trial magistrate however, noted that the complainant after her evidence, was only an interested party to the case.
She noted that the criminal proceeding was still ongoing, stressing that the court would study the terms of settlement filed on July 24, 2017 vis a vis the judgement of the court.
Mrs. Guansah, admitting receipt of the terms of settlement, held that the document was about compensation for the assaulted victim and that the supposed agreement was in respect of the civil leg of the case.
She however, held that the court would deliver its judgment on August 2, 2017.
The five-month-old case saw the prosecution lining up four witnesses to affirm its charges against the accused.
The accused on the other hand, called one witness – Abigail Aduamoah – to parry the charges of the prosecution, led by Chief Inspector H.A. Hanson.
The accused had in the course of the trial denied his statement to the police, indicating that it was twisted to mean he dipped the face of the complainant into blended paper.
Defence lawyers had accused the complainant of initiating the action because she wanted to make money out of the case.
Evelyn Boakye had dragged Jihad, 26 years old, before the court for assault.
The accused is reported to have dipped the head of Evelyn into blended pepper on February 26, 2017.
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson