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PATRICK SORGBODZOR, lawyer for Justin Kone Katinan, an ex-Ivorian minister who is on remand pending extradition has said the arrest and detention of his client was politically motivated. The lawyer who was responding to submissions made by the prosecutor at an Accra Magistrate Court presided over by Ali Baba Bature where Mr. Katinan is standing trial on murder charges, observed that the decision to charge his client for murder and how the matter was being handle by the state were �all political machinations to have his client extradited.� He said even though his client reportedly conspired with Dalo Desire, a former Ivorian minister and murdered two civilians, his alleged conspirator who was being held by Ivory Coast authorities had not been put before the court on any charge of murder and therefore wondered why Mr. Katinan was facing murder charges. Mr. Katinan is currently facing robbery and murder charges at two separate district magistrate courts. On Monday when he appeared at the AMA Court, prosecutor, DSP Abraham Annor prayed the court to remand continually him for Interpol Accra and Abidjan to have correspondence in the case in relation to the crime he had committed. DSP Annor who disclosed to the court that as at Monday October 15, 2012, the two were exchanging documents, prayed for one more adjournment to enable Interpol sort out their differences so that on the next adjourned date they would inform the court on the way forward. The prosecutor who acknowledged the fact that the rights and liberty of the accused was at stake argued that �justice hurried is justice buried,� adding it would be proper for them to get all the necessary information before proceeding with the case. Mr. Sorgbodzor in response to prosecution�s request said Interpol Accra had no jurisdiction to investigate a crime that occurred outside the country and supported his argument by quoting Article 2 of the Interpol Convention. He questioned the grounds on which the accused was arrested if the prosecution said that they were now exchanging documents. The charge sheet, he observed contained scanty information because they had not been told how the accused person committed the murder offences. He prayed the court to grant Katinan bail because his passport had been seized even though he had asylum seeker certificates. According to Sorgbodzor, when he contacted counsel for Ex-Minister Dalo, he was informed that Dalo was being held by Ivorian authorities and had been charged with certain offences but had not been put before court on murder charges. He observed that the Attorney-General was pursuing the extradition process at the Osu Court where Katinan had been charged with robbery and at the end of the day the two cases would lead to his extradition. He questioned why this country was pursuing two parallel extradition proceedings since it would lead to absurdity. Mr. Sorgbodzor informed Ali Baba that Merley Wood, the state attorney in the case, had told the Osu Court they would be withdrawing the murder charges before the AMA Court and merge them with that of robbery charges for them to be heard at the Osu Court. Counsel showed the court a copy of the proceedings that day and this prompted Ali Baba to ask the whereabouts of the state attorney who was not present. DSP Annor however argued that the said letter written by Sorgbodzor to Dalo�s lawyer was just a letter from counsel to counsel therefore the court should not take it serious but deal only with documents received by Interpol Ghana from the Ivorian authorities. At the Osu Court, Matthew Amponsah, Chief State Attorney, who represented the state asked for an adjournment to consolidate the two cases. He explained that they were waiting for full investigations from Interpol to enable them file the necessary process on the extradition. Sorgbodzor expressed surprise at the conduct of the prosecution and reminded the court that the prosecution made the same request on the last adjourned date. The judge, Aboagye Tando, before he also adjourned the matter advised prosecution that it was not proper to have extradition processes in two separate courts observing that it would bring confusion.