{"id":673265,"date":"2019-08-06T12:06:33","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T12:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"
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Lawyers for Ranking Member on Parliament\u2019s Finance committee, Cassiel Ato Forson have called the bluff of Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu who is demanding an apology from the legislator.<\/p>\n

Amidu last week wrote a letter to Ato Forson de"},"modified":"2019-08-06T12:06:33","modified_gmt":"2019-08-06T12:06:33","slug":"our-client-didnt-defame-you-he-wont-apologize-ato-forsons-lawyers-to-amidu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/08\/06\/our-client-didnt-defame-you-he-wont-apologize-ato-forsons-lawyers-to-amidu\/","title":{"rendered":"Our client didn\u2019t defame you, he won\u2019t apologize \u2013 Ato Forson\u2019s lawyers to Amidu"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Lawyers for Ranking Member on Parliament\u2019s Finance committee, Cassiel Ato Forson have called the bluff of Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu who is demanding an apology from the legislator.<\/p>\n

Amidu last week wrote a letter to Ato Forson demanding an apology over remarks attributed to the Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam legislator with\u00a0regards to a judgement debt issue.<\/p>\n

Amidu who claimed Ato Forson\u2019s comment defamed him threatened to sue the legislator if he refuses to apologize.<\/p>\n

But Ato Forson\u2019s lawyers in a response letter signed by Godwin Kudzo Tameklo, and sighted by citinewsroom.com<\/strong> insisted that \u201cthe words uttered and published by our client, and irrespective of whatever spin is placed on the words, it is obvious our client never defamed you. In consequence, your claim that our client defamed you and therefore must render an unqualified apology to you is not borne out of the statement made by him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Tameklo in the letter argued that \u201cthe specific claims of malice and innuendos linked to the statement made by our client are not borne out of the words uttered and published but solely as a result of the spin that you have conveniently placed on the words.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cAlso, we wish to serve notice that our client is not only a Member of Parliament but he is the Ranking Member on [the] Finance [Committee] and that he made the aforementioned statement to the Parliamentary Press Corp as part of his role in scrutinizing government finances. Your threat to sue him for making the statement as part of his role as a Ranking Member on [the] Finance [Committee] smacks of an attempt to curtail his freedom of speech in Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the basis of the above, we have advised our client against rendering the unqualified apology on the basis solely of defamation or at all,\u201d lawyers of Ato Forson who is also Minority Spokesperson on Finance added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

After the Finance Minister revealed that the Akufo-Addo administration had paid over GHc280 million as judgment debts since it took office in 2017, Mr. Forson told journalists he had information indicating the Special Prosecutor had been paid some judgement debts.<\/p>\n

Mr. Forson is quoted as saying: \u201cWe are hearing and on authority we are hearing that they have paid the likes of McDan, they have paid Bankswitch, they have paid even the Special Prosecutor an amount of judgment debt, as to whether they qualify to receive that amount, is something we will have to investigate.\u201d<\/p>\n