We won’t appeal ruling – Lawyers for Montie trio

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 have no plans of seeking a review of the case.

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

Speaking to Citi News one of their lawyers, Godwin Edudzi Tamaklo said the ruling cannot be challenged since it was not an action that flowed from the Judges' exclusive jurisdiction.

“This particular position came under the inherent powers of the court. It is not an action that you will say flowed from their exclusive or original jurisdiction under Article 2 or a matter that came so it is an inherent matter that they dealt with so are we now going to invoke the jurisdiction over the inherent powers of the court. These are grey areas of the law but like I indicated earlier we want to have a copy of the judgement and once we have it what we need to do as Counsel is we will advise our clients going forward.”

Sentencing minimum
Meanwhile a Former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Sam Okudjeto, has opined that the trio should have been handed a minimum of six month prison sentence.

He argued that the four-month prison sentence is not enough to serve as a deterrent to others.

“If I were there, I would have given them more than that because I am so worried about what I call irresponsibility that has almost crept into political arena whereby people use the television and radio as a platform for vulgar abuse, threats.That is not what the media is meant for and I think that a lot of characters that are appearing on television should not be allowed. The station itself should have been punished heavier for them to put down rules, the rules which says that when you come here no abuse, no insult.”

“I would have preferred to have given them at least six months and then ban them for a year or two to be of good behavior.”

Lawyer Sam Okudjeto also said it was immaterial that the three had apologized, saying the apology could not have undone the harm their utterances would have caused.

Reactions 
The sentencing 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.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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