body-container-line-1

4 months jail term for Montie gang moderate- Atta Akyea

By MyJoyOnline
Politics 4 months jail term for Montie gang moderate- Atta Akyea
JUL 27, 2016 LISTEN

Abuakwa South Member of Parliament has challenged the media to "cleanse itself" of persons who give the media a bad name or risk having its personnel dragged to court for contempt and handed jail terms

Atta Akyea is not the least sympathetic to the host and two panelists of an Accra based radio station, Montie FM, who were handed four month jail term by judges of the Supreme Court.

Speaking to Joy News' Parliamentary correspondent Elton John Brobbey, the private legal practitioner said the contempt verdict by the judges to the Montie workers and owners is a good step to protect the sanctity of the judiciary.

"What they did was so serious," he pointed out, adding, "the outcome has been moderated."

A host of a political discussion program on Montie FM, Salifu Maase and two of his panelists, Alistair Nelson and Godwin Ako-Gunn were jailed for four months, Wednesday, for threatening to kill judges of the Supreme Court.

The owners of the station, four of them, were each slapped with a 30,000 cedis to be paid by close of day Thursday or they risk going to jail.

Some have described the judgment as harsh but Atta Akyea holds a different opinion. He said given the seriousness of the comments made by the contemnors, the judges were spot on with the judgment.

He suspects there are bigger fishes or "hyenas" who are using the three jailed contemnors for their own selfish ends.

Atta Akyea said these hyenas are "politically strong" and are "using these young men to do their bidding."

"If the owners of the station glorify this, then they are worse than the contemnors," he stated.

The MP also berated the police for shirking their responsibilities to the state.

He argued anyone who threatens to take the life of another is deemed to have committed a criminal offence and wondered why the police and the BNI did not begin any criminal proceedings against the contemnors.

He suspects the police gave up on investigating and prosecuting the people because of their ties with the governing party.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah

body-container-line