The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has challenged the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to produce the full audio containing the alleged conversation between the Attorney-General and the third accused Richard Jakpa if they claim the tape was doctored.
Earlier today, the NDC at a press conference played a 16-minute audio recording claiming to be a conversation between Godfred Yeboah Dame and the third accused.
The party claims that the tape confirms that indeed Mr Dame had attempted to make Mr Jakpa indict the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, in the ambulance case, and the audio was proof.
During a trial, Mr Jakpa claimed that the Attorney-General had previously approached him to help build a case against the former Deputy Finance Minister.
Mr Jakpa said in open court that the Attorney-General had on several occasions engaged him at odd hours to incriminate the first accused and Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.
“If he pushes me, I will open the Pandora’s box. I don’t understand why the A-G will accuse me of defending A1 [Ato Forson] when I’m here to defend myself,” Mr Jakpa added during court proceedings on Thursday, May 23, 2024.
The A-G’s office denied the claim.
However, the NDC said it had evidence to prove otherwise, hence the release of the 16-minute audio.
In rebuttal, NPP asserts that the alleged conversation between the third accused, Richard Jakpa, and the Attorney-General was fabricated by the NDC.
“The alleged conversation is supposed to last for 26 minutes, the NDC schemed to play only 16 minutes. The question is where is the rest of the tape.”
But speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on May 28, the National Communication Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, argues that since the NPP is challenging the authenticity of their audio, they should produce the original recording of the purported conversation.
The legal practitioner contends that in court cases of this nature if one party believes the original audio recording has been tampered with, the most effective way to refute that claim is by releasing the authentic, unaltered audio.
“In law, if you allege that the tape is doctored the onus is on you to produce the authentic version. So where is the authentic version?” he questioned.
Additionally, the NDC communicator explained that in most conversations, the initial few minutes typically involve exchanging pleasantries, making it difficult to discern the direction the discussion will eventually take.
“If you call me for an hour, I can have a conversation with you for say the first 20 minutes but if I see from the direction of the conversation that you are up to mischief, I can record from a certain point.
“So the fact that I don’t record the entire conversations but I record portions of the conversation does not make the case doctored,” he added.
Source: myjoyonline.com
