Striking Jurors Resume Work

 

Jury trials resumed at the High Court in Accra last Friday after jurors who had embarked on a strike to protest the non-payment of their allowances called it off.

Information picked by Daily Guide indicated that the jurors had been paid their January to June 2023, allowances hence the decision to call off the strike.

A jury is a sworn body of people convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court.

Jury trials were affected last week as jurors refused to show up for cases as they embarked on a strike in agitation for the nonpayment of the allowances.

The trial of 14 persons accused of murdering the late Major Maxwell Mahama was hindered by another strike action by jurors who were agitating over the non-payment of their allowances.

An Accra High Court was forced to adjourn the case last Monday as none of the seven jurors showed up for the trial which has lasted for about five years, partly as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic that devastated the world.

The prosecution led by Evelyn Keelson, a Chief State Attorney was expected to continue addressing jurors as she tries to convince them to return a guilty verdict.

The jurors had earlier on embarked on a similar action but the trial Judge, Justice Mariama Owusu, a Justice of the Supreme Court sitting as an additional High Court Judge, took the matter on and personally consulted the Chief Justice who in turn resolved the issue.

The trial of two youngsters who allegedly killed an 11-year-old boy in Kasoa for money ritual was also affected and the court had to adjourn the case.

But the cases are expected to resume today following the resumption of the jurors who had begun hearing cases last Friday.

BY Gibril Abdul Razak

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