Media fraternity expresses shock over Montie 3 sentence
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has expressed shock at the four-month prison term slapped on each of the two panellists of Montie FM who threatened the lives of judges of the Supreme Court.
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Although the two panellists, Alistair Tairo Nelson and Godwin Ako Gunn, as well as the host of the programme on which the said comments were made, Salifu Maase, alias Mugabe, and the owners of the radio station had all been found guilty of contempt of court by the Supreme Court on July 18, 2016, their punishment had been deferred to July 27, 2016.
The court, presided over by Ms Justice Sophia Akuffo, had earlier told the three: “You are hereby found guilty of contempt of court for scandalising the court, defying and lowering the authority of this court and bringing the name of the court into disrepute.’’
Subsequently, the three people, the owners of the radio station, as well as their lawyers, agreed that they were liable for the offence and, therefore, apologised, expressed regret at the incident and pleaded with the five-member panel for mercy.
The owners said the station had put in measures to avoid a repeat of the contemptuous comments on its platform, while the lawyers pleaded for mitigation after the court had pronounced the guilty verdict.
GJA reaction
However, reacting to the sentencing of the three people in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra Wednesday, the President of the GJA, Mr Affail Monney, said it had come as a surprise, as he believed that the conviction was punitive enough to serve as a deterrent to others.
“Our initial reaction is that it came as a shock because they had been convicted and we thought the conviction was punitive enough to deter others.
“But who are we to question the supremacy of the judges who so decided that the three should spend the next four months in jail?” he asked.
He said the conviction emphasised that the country’s media landscape was “still latent with all kinds of legal land mines and potholes in which we should not fall”.
He was, however, of the view that as the country was in the dispensation of law, the law must take its course, regardless of the status of the offender of the law, adding that the GJA was, nonetheless, against any move that would prevent journalists from doing their work.
Severe punishment
A lecturer at the Pentecost University College, Dr Daniel Nkrumah, who described the incarceration of the host and the panellists as very unfortunate, also thought that the punishment was severe.
He was, however, of the view that the court could not be faulted for handing down the four-month jail term, in addition to the GH¢10,000 fine for each of them.
“We have to take into consideration what the people said and we’ll appreciate that it was quite in bad taste. It was so much unpleasant. It was not only in contempt of the court but also quite criminal to threaten somebody with death,” he said.
According to Dr Nkrumah, given the harshness of the punishment, it could be said that people were going to be more circumspect when they would talk about the courts or judges, but the situation was not going to change if they spoke about politicians and other people.
