In his absence, the High Court in Accra heard the case concerning Assin North Member of Parliament James Gyakye Quayson.
This comes after the politician failed to appear in court on Thursday as ordered.
The accused, who is on trial for perjury charges, was ordered by the court on November 3 to appear in court or join a virtual connection on November 9.
The inability of the accused and his counsel to appear for hearings on the last postponed date prompted this decision.
The judge, Justice Mary Yanzuh, ordered that the trial be continued in absentia if the accused, who she considered had no good excuse to be absent, committed another comparable offence.
However, when the matter was summoned on Thursday, his attorneys, led by Tsatsu Tsikata, revealed that James Gyakye Quayson was out of the country for medical testing and treatment.
“The accused person is in Canada for medical tests and the requisite treatment arising from those tests,” Tsatsu Tsikata noted in court.
He informed the court that the accused was preparing for medical doctors in Canada to offer an update on his medical state, which may take 5 months.
He did, however, say that procedures are being taken to acquire a medical practitioner in Ghana to testify about the legislator’s medical condition.
“I am, therefore, asking the court to allow us to contact that doctor in Ghana to make him available to the court to make it clear to the court the medical situation which makes it necessary for the accused to go for medical treatment from specialized doctors,” Tsatsu Tsikata pleaded with the court.
He also informed the court that his client and counsel were unaware of the November 3 hearing at which the order to perhaps trial the matter in his absence was issued.
He requested the court to reconsider its November 3 decision.
However, the Judge stated that there was no proof before the court proving the accused’s medical condition; so, the court would treat him as if he had no medical problem as alleged.
The court then ordered the trial to proceed in his absence under article 19(3b) of the 1992 constitution and requested Tsatsu Tsikata to finish his cross-examination of prosecution witness 1, Richard Takyi, a Central Region NPP official.