Wednesday, 26 November

Ken Ofori-Atta's legal counsel accuses OSP of misleading public

News
Ken Ofori-Atta (L) and Kissi Agyabeng (R)

The legal counsel for former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, Minkah-Premo, Osei-Bonsu, Bruce-Cathline & Partners (OBB), has formally accused the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) of misleading the public about the removal of Mr Ofori-Atta’s image and personal information from INTERPOL’s website.

In a strongly worded four-page letter dated November 24, 2025, and addressed to the special prosecutor, OBB challenged the OSP’s November 19, 2025, press release, which they said wrongly implied that the “redaction” of Mr Ofori-Atta’s Red Notice was merely part of a routine process pending a final decision by INTERPOL’s Commission for the Control of Files (CCF).

OBB clarified that the blocking of the Red Notice from INTERPOL’s public platform was far from routine. According to the firm, the CCF’s action followed a “rigorous legal assessment” which concluded that the conditions for publishing the notice had not been satisfied.

They emphasised that the CCF was mandated to protect the rights of data subjects, and blocking access to a Red Notice across all 196 INTERPOL member states occurred only when serious compliance concerns arose regarding the notice’s conformity with INTERPOL’s legal standards.

The firm also pointed out that the OSP had requested the Red Notice through Ghana’s National Central Bureau (NCB) on June 5, 2025 — at a time when Mr Ofori-Atta was reportedly undergoing surgery in the United States.

On June 11, 2025, Mr Ofori-Atta’s legal team filed an application with the CCF seeking the deletion of the Red Notice, arguing that it violated Articles 2 and 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution.

OBB further asserted that the OSP’s press statement omitted a critical detail: the CCF had suspended the Red Notice pending a full review of its legality, due to concerns about its compliance with INTERPOL’s rules.

The lawyers described the OSP’s statements as “manifestly erroneous” and demanded a correction. They warned that the supposedly harmless press release risked misleading the public and contributed to a pattern of “political persecution, disregard for data subjects’ rights, and violations of individual human rights”.

Source: classfmonline.com/Zita Okwang