The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has asserted that it possesses the authority to arrest suspects of interest without a warrant.
The OSP clarified its position on Twitter shortly after a Human Rights Court granted an interlocutory injunction restraining the Special Prosecutor or its assigns from arresting Charles Bissue.
“The general public is advised, that in the exercise of its police powers, the Office of the Special Prosecutor can arrest without a warrant, any person it reasonably suspects of having committed corruption or corruption-related offenses.”
Following an application by Charles Bissue’s lawyers, the Human Rights Court presided over by Justice Nicholas Abodakpi, issued an interim injunction restraining the Office of the Special Prosecutor or its agents from executing an alleged arrest warrant against Bissue.
The court also prohibited the Special Prosecutor from seeking further arrest warrants and publishing notices suggesting that the applicant is wanted, pending the determination of the substantive matter.
The injunction will remain in effect for 10 days, and the case has been adjourned until June 22, 2023.
This comes after Special Prosecutor declared Charles Bissue, the former Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), as a wanted individual.
The declaration followed Mr Bissue’s failure to respond to an invitation from the Special Prosecutor to appear and provide answers related to the ongoing investigation into suspected corruption within the dissolved IMCIM.