My clients are not guilty; we’ve sworn an oath to defend them – Freddie Blay

A former national chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, says his law firm is ready to defend the four accomplices of Aisha Huang because they are innocent.

He said they have no reason to believe or act otherwise, adding that the four Chinese nationals deserve full legal representation in court.

“They came to instruct us and we as professionals, we have sworn an oath to defend our clients to the best of our knowledge and ability and that is exactly what we are doing in accordance with the Constitution of this country.

“They are not guilty. They’ve been brought before the court, they’ve pleaded not guilty and are being defended,” Mr Blay said in an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday.

According to him, the four accused persons may have a relationship with Aisha Huang because in 2017 they bought a supermarket from her.

That, in any way, does not suggest they are illegal miners and should not have fair legal representation or defence, Mr Blay stressed.

“Our firm is defending these clients; they’ve told us their story. Maybe the prosecution has been told some other story and that is why we are before the court to defend them,” he added.

“We are a firm of lawyers, we take our instructions from our clients based on the story they’ve told us which we have no reason to believe otherwise.”

He clapped back at critics who say his decision to defend the accused persons defeats government’s fight against ‘galamsey’.

“I don’t know whether you are saying that at a time like this when people are accused or arraigned before court, they should not be entitled to any defence,” he retorted.

NPP justification

Meanwhile, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has justified the decision by its former national chairman, Freddie Blay, to defend four accomplices of ‘galamsey’ queen Aisha Hunag in court.

According to the Communications Director, Richard Ahiagbah, people’s political affiliations should not deny anyone the right to justice and fair representation in court.

“I don’t think there would be any miscarriage of justice because the lawyers in the case are NPP related or have affiliation with the New Patriotic Party.

The idea is that every client deserves a representation; our laws allow for that so the clients have exercised their right to have a legal representation,” he told JoyNews in an interview.

What happened?

A feeling of surprise erupted in the Criminal Court 5 on Tuesday when it was announced that former NPP National Chairman Freddie Blay will be representing four accomplices of Aisha Huang who are being held by the state for their involvement in illegal mining.

Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, announced in court that she was holding brief for Freddy Blay in the case of the four accomplices of Aisha Huang namely; Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.

Aisha Huang herself is being represented by NPP stalwart, Nkrabea Effah Dartey.

This move by Mr Blay has sparked discussions among the public as many say it suggests a lack of principles and defeats government’s fight against the canker.

“Those [lawyers] happen to be people affiliated with the NPP; I don’t think that necessarily changes the rules of the court… I think that we should pay attention and see that the due process is occasioned and the outcome is fair to our country,” Richard Ahiagbah noted.

The High Court, on Tuesday, denied two applications for bail by lawyers for the Chinese illegal mining kingpin.

The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame, and the Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, were in court to lead government’s efforts in prosecuting Aisha Huang and others being held for illegal mining.