[ 2016-07-28 ]

Lawyers for Montie 3 to petition Mahama over verdict
Lawyers for the host of Montie FM’s
‘Pampaso’ political show, Salifu Maase, alias
Mugabe, and two panelists, Alistair Nelson, and
Godwin Ako Gunn who were handed a four-month
prison sentence say they will petition President
Mahama over their clients’ custodial sentence.

The three were sentenced on Wednesday by the
Supreme Court for threatening the lives of judges
on a live radio show.

The lawyers, George Loh and Nana Ato Dadzie in a
statement said though they admit comments made by
their clients were “unacceptable”, they
consider the sentence harsh and excessive.

“We do admit some of the statements uttered by
some of our clients are unacceptable. We
nevertheless consider custodial sentence of four
months imposed by the Supreme Court as being
excessive and harsh.”

“We also do not believe that citizens of Ghana
ought to be committed to prison for infractions on
free expression especially in light of the repeal
of the criminal libel law. Our clients have
directed us in circumstances to petition His
Excellency the President of the Republic to
exercise his powers of perogative of mercy under
Article 72 of the Constitution of Ghana.”

Reactions

The sentence has been met with mixed reactions
from various stakeholders.While some believe it
was a step in the right direction, others say the
Judges were to harsh on the trio.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in a
statement released on Tuesday said the judgement
“sends an unfortunate impression about Ghana,
its judiciary and severely dents our enviable
reputation as a beacon of democracy on the African
continent and beyond.” It further stated that
the “judgement also may undermine our position
among countries with the freest media in the
world.”

Source - citifmonline.com

... go Back