The High Court has ordered self-styled evangelist and founder of Heaven Way Champions International Ministry, Patricia Asiedua Asiamah, widely known as Nana Agradaa, to open her defence in a case where she is accused of sharing nude images of Prophet Emmanuel Appiah Fomum.

Presiding judge Mary Ekue Yanzuh dismissed a submission of no case filed by Agradaa’s legal team and ruled that the accused must respond to the charges.

“My prayer is that your ruling can be delivered in her presence. We pray for an adjournment and an order for her to be brought to court,” her lawyer, Richard Baffour, pleaded.

However, Justice Yanzuh delivered the ruling in her absence, despite the request.

The court also directed prison officials to ensure Agradaa is present at the next hearing and ordered her defence team to file their witness statements ahead of the next proceedings. The case has been adjourned to July 30 for a case management conference.

Agradaa, a former fetish priestess-turned-preacher, is facing one count of possession of obscene material and three counts of non-consensual sharing of intimate images.

According to the prosecution, she allegedly aired nude images of Prophet Fomum on her television station, Thunder TV (now called Today’s TV), in 2021.

“The first accused (Nana Agradaa) also published the nude pictures of the complainant, which she designed in the form of a product label for a drink (bitters) for sale on Thunder TV,” the prosecution stated. “On that particular programme, she shared and published the nude pictures of the said prophet.”

The charges also implicate three others, Enoch Owusu Kissi, Charles Omane, and Emmanuel Kofi Gyasi, who are accused of abetment of crime.

The prosecution said, “The second to fourth accused persons were passing disparaging remarks about the complainant’s nudity. The first accused person also caused an employee of her TV station to publish nude pictures of the complainant.”

On Thursday, July 3, the Heaven Way Champions International Ministry leader was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court after finding her guilty of charlatanic advertisement and defrauding by false pretences.