Suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has laid bare a harrowing account of her treatment in the ongoing impeachment proceedings, claiming a deliberate campaign to humiliate, isolate, and mentally break her.
In a supplementary affidavit filed in support of a motion for interlocutory injunction at the Supreme Court, Justice Torkornoo accuses the committee probing her of violating her constitutional rights and subjecting her to what she calls “inhuman and degrading treatment.”
“They want to break me,” the embattled Chief Justice declares in the affidavit, painting a chilling portrait of what she describes as psychological torment at the hands of a committee that has, in her words, trampled on every safeguard of fairness and decency.
Filed on May 21, the application follows what the Chief Justice describes as a “complete desecration” of her rights to a fair trial.
“What I am going through is not even meted out to persons accused of treason,” she states.
She says the situation worsened on May 23, when the committee, despite being served with her lawsuit and application for injunction, “indicated their resolve to proceed” with the inquiry.
Justice Torkornoo states that she has never been informed of the specific allegations for which a prima facie case was established against her — a basic procedural right she argues has been denied.
Her affidavit describes a systematic sidelining of her legal team. On May 15, when she was absent but represented by counsel, the committee, she says, “shockingly refused to recognise” her lawyer.
Even more startling, the same counsel had received a hearing notice just a day earlier.
“The committee proceeded to fix subsequent hearing dates without involving my lawyer, who was physically present,” she recounts.
Justice Torkornoo also slams the committee’s decision to allow petitioners to avoid testifying personally, instead relying on third-party witnesses.
This, she says, violates standard rules for such inquiries, under which complainants are to appear, testify under oath, and be cross-examined.
But it is the conditions of the hearing itself that the Chief Justice says amount to a calculated assault on her dignity.
She recounts being denied access to her mobile phone and laptop, along with her legal team.
Her husband and children were barred from entering the hearing room. Personal body searches were conducted.
Meanwhile, petitioners’ lawyers retained access to their devices and were treated with “preferential courtesies.”
“This is mental torture,” she states bluntly. “These measures, including the location of the hearing in a high-security zone at the Osu Castle, are designed to degrade me.”
She contrasts her treatment with that of previous Article 146 proceedings, all of which she says were conducted in formal judicial settings — typically the Courts Complex.
“Why move only my case to a fortified security facility?” she asks. “The location boggles the mind.”
Justice Torkornoo argues that the ongoing violations amount to a larger, more dangerous mission — to remove her from office under the guise of legal process.
“This is a mockery of justice,” she declares. “A ruse to unjustifiably remove me from office.”
The Chief Justice is now asking the Supreme Court to halt the process, warning that if allowed to continue, it will not only destroy judicial independence but also set a precedent that undermines the security of tenure for justices of the superior courts.
In her final plea, she urges the Court to intervene “to prevent the assault on judicial independence and protect the integrity of the Judiciary.”
