We won't appear before the court - NDC MPs challenge Police summon

The NDC MPs charged for 'unlawful assembly' in their protest against the Electoral Commission (EC), will not honour the police summon served on them to appear before the Accra Magistrate Court today, MP for Kunbungu, Ras Mubarak has said.

According to him, the police is committing an illegality by executing a criminal summons on serving members of parliament without the permission of the speaker
 
The police have charged 20 NDC MPs, led by Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu for storming the offices of the EC in protest of the election results at Techiman South constituency, and also to present a petition over the conduct of the elections.

The police charged the legislators with unlawful assembly for failing to notify the Police of holding of a special event contrary to Section 1(1) and (2) and 9(a) of the Public Order Act, 1994(Act 491).
 
The statement of offence claims the MPs did unlawfully assemble with a common purpose and conducted themselves in a manner likely to cause persons in the Ridge neighbourhood reasonable fear. 

The MPs affected by the summons include Deputy Minority Leader James Klutse Avedzi, Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak, Ningo Prampram MP Samuel George, former Deputy Interior Minister James Agalga, John Jinapor, Rockson Dafiamekpor, Adam Mutawakilu, Ebenezer Terlabi, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, A. B. A. Fuseini, Kofi Buah, Rashid Pelpuo and Richard Quarshigah.

The rest are Collins Dauda, Yussif Jahja, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, and Kunbungu MP Ras Mubarack. NDC Deputy General Secretary Peter Otukunor is the other individual charged in connection with the alleged offences.

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Ras Mubarak in an interview with  Joy News  said the police should follow the due process in summoning MPs before the court, else they (NDC MPs charged) will not honour the summon.

He said;

Article 117 of the 1992 Constitution states that “civil or criminal process coming from any court or place out of Parliament shall not be served on, or executed in relation to, the Speaker or a member or the clerk to Parliament while he is on his way to, attending at or returning from, any proceedings of Parliament.”
 
“In any case, parliament is sitting tomorrow (Monday) at 10am. And they of all people should know better that when parliament is sitting, unless the speaker explicitly releases any MP, no one can summon them to any court. So, this is an illegality,” Mr. Mubarak said.  
 
“They should follow the Constitution. They should contact the speaker to inform him of what they want to do, the speaker will give directions, invite the parties, and discuss it before any such service can be served on MPs.

“But you don’t send these things to MPs and leak it to the media and expect that any MP will take you seriously. They are taking us into the abyss,” he told Joy News.
 
The Kunbungu MPs says he and his colleagues will not be in court today because the Speaker of Parliament has not permitted the police to serve them.