The suspended CJ claims that she was “treated worse than a traitor” and that the impeachment process was a parody of justice.

The Supreme Court received a devastating supplemental affidavit from suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo on Monday, May 26.
She calls the abuse she had during the ongoing impeachment investigation “a mockery of justice, an assault on judicial independence, and worse than the treatment meted out to persons accused of treason.” He provided a graphic picture of her ordeal.

“A complete desecration of my basic constitutional rights to a fair trial, violation of my dignity, and subjection to inhuman and degrading treatment, of a kind not meted out to even accused persons on trial for treason,” according to Justice Torkornoo, is what she is going through.

A number of concerning events since she initially filed a lawsuit on May 21 are detailed in the affidavit, which was submitted in support of her application for an interlocutory order to stop the proceedings.

She disclosed that the committee carried out the investigation the very following day, even though she had told them about the lawsuit she had filed at the Supreme Court and had given them copies of the procedures.

She adds that she is still unaware of the legal foundation for concluding that a prima facie case has been made against her. “Despite receiving the processes filed, the committee members indicated their resolve to proceed,” she says.

“I am not aware of the precise accusations against me. “I am at a loss for how to prepare a defence,” she bemoaned.

Judge Torkornoo explained what she sees as a planned set of infractions.

She described how the same committee that had sent him hearing letters the day before ignored and marginalised her lawyer when he came before the committee on May 15 in her absence.
Surprisingly, the committee declined to acknowledge my counsel. and went ahead to schedule further hearings without consulting him,” she stated.

According to her declaration, the committee’s choice to permit the petitioners to call outside witnesses rather than provide their own testimony is even more concerning.

She contends that this goes against the regulations requiring petitioners to testify under oath and be exposed to cross-examination, as well as undermining the idea of direct responsibility.

She insists, “This is totally against established rules of procedure.”

Her criticism, however, is not limited to the procedural flaws.

Justice Torkornoo describes extremely private humiliations, such as body searches and denying herself and her legal team access to phones and laptops while permitting petitioners’ attorneys complete access.

She adds that the hearing room was off-limits to her husband and kids.
She also criticised the hearings’ purposefully frightening location, the Osu Castle, a high-security area.

With the exception of the one I’m going through, every Article 146 proceeding has taken place in a courtroom. It’s mind-boggling that the proceedings that are affecting me are taking place in a high-security, cordoned facility,” she added.

The Chief Justice cautions that what is happening is an institutional crisis rather than merely a personal assault.

She urged the Supreme Court to step in right away, saying, “The ongoing violations of my constitutional rights show that the whole proceedings… are a mockery of justice and a ruse to unjustifiably remove me from office.”

She contends in her petition that the lawsuit is about defending the constitutional independence and tenure security of all judges in the higher courts, not only about her continued employment.