The Minority in Parliament has described the High Court judgment sentencing the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, to 20 years' imprisonment as fundamentally flawed, citing what it says are four major legal defects in the ruling.

According to the caucus, the trial judge's refusal to refer constitutional questions arising from the case to the Supreme Court resulted in a substantial miscarriage of justice.

Addressing journalists in Parliament on Tuesday, July 21, the Deputy Minority Leader Patricia Appiagyei said the Minority would pursue all lawful avenues, both in Parliament and through public advocacy, to challenge the judgment.

"The Minority will do whatever is lawfully and properly within its powers, through Parliament and through public advocacy, to see that justice is done and that the defects which have robbed the judgment of its legitimacy are corrected," she said.

Mrs Appiagyei outlined what she described as four serious defects in the judgment, beginning with the alleged denial of Chairman Wontumi's right to counsel of his choice.

She said the judgment was delivered in the absence of Wontumi's lead counsel, despite the court having been notified that the lawyer had a prior professional engagement outside the country.

The Deputy Minority Leader also criticised the trial judge's decision not to refer constitutional questions relating to Section 99(2)(b) of the Minerals and Mining Act to the Supreme Court.

According to her, the judge instead determined that the provision was "clear and unambiguous", a move the Minority believes exceeded the court's remit.

Mrs Appiagyei further argued that the judgment improperly pierced the corporate veil of Akonta Mining Limited by treating the company and Chairman Wontumi as one entity.

"The judgment convicted Wontumi and the company separately on separate counts, using reasoning that treated them as one and the same. A court cannot dissolve a company to convict the man," she stated.

The Minority says these alleged defects will form the basis of efforts to overturn the conviction through the appeal process while continuing to campaign publicly for what it describes as justice for Chairman Wontumi.