Investigative Journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, says he will not be testifying in the trial of suspended former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kwesi Nyantakyi due to an order by an Accra High Court directing him to show his face to the accused person.
His firm, Tiger Eye PI, in a statement said the decision for Anas to withdraw his testimony in the trial is because showing his face to Mr. Nyantakyi will severely compromise his physical security and personal safety.
An Accra High Court presided over by Justice Marie Louise Simmons, last Wednesday directed that Anas would take off his trade mark beaded mask in chambers to allow Mr. Nyantakyi to see his face and then proceed to testify in open court while covering his face.
Mr. Nyantakyi is before the court together with a former member of the executive committee of the GFA, Abdulai Alhassan, charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, fraud and corruption.
The trial is as a result of alleged shady deals which were exposed by Anas Aremeyaw Anas in his ‘Number 12’ investigative piece which exposed alleged corrupt dealings at the GFA.
The direction was contained in a ruling on an application filed by the Office of the Attorney General urging the court to allow Anas to testify in-camera for security reasons but the defence opposed it and urged the court to order Anas to testify in open court while taking off his mask.
The court granted the application in part and indicated that Anas would be allowed to testify in open court while covering his face but he will prior to that show his real face to Mr. Nyantakyi in chambers.
Justice Simmons said it is in the interest of justice where the liberty of a citizen is at stake that they are given the needed facility to defend themselves.
It was the opinion of the court that Anas being a principal witness in the trial against Mr. Nyantakyi, his identity becomes crucial to allow the accused to identify him in order to be able to defend himself.
But Tiger Eye PI, in a statement, said Anas had earlier agreed to testify as a witness for the prosecution in the case after Ahmed Hussein Suale, one of its investigators, was gruesomely murdered, on condition that his identity is protected.
The statement said Ahmed Suale was assassinated on the same day he had an engagement with the Attorney General’s Office on his testimony in the trial, and had previously been threatened with death by Mr. Nyantakyi.
“Anas’s request for the protection of his identity stems from his role as an undercover agent and the real and elevated risk that revealing his identity to the defendant will severely compromise his physical security and personal safety,” the statement said.
It continued that as much as Anas is willing and ready to testify for the prosecution, doing so under the condition specified by the court, presents a clear and present danger to his security and safety.
“Under these circumstances, prudence requires that he (Anas) declines the invitation to endanger his life and accordingly declines the invitation to reveal his identity to the defendant in the judges’ chamber or any other place,” the statement added.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak