Jail term for Montie 3 not harsh – Ndebugri

A private legal practitioner, John Ndebugri, has said that the 4-month jail terms given to the two panelists, and the host of the 'Pampaso' show on Montie FM by the Supreme Court, were appropriate for the offences they were convicted of.

Alistair Nelson, Godwin Ako Gunn and Salifu Maase, alias Mugabe, were sentenced to serve four months in jail on Wednesday, after they were found guilty of contempt charges.

This was after they threatened the lives of the judges who were presiding over a case on the credibility of the voters' register.

The former PNC legislator’s comments is in response to suggestions that the sentences were harsh and could stifle freedom of speech.

According to Ndebugri, the judges have sent out a strong message to anyone who comments on the activities of the judiciary to exercise some level of restraint when doing so.

“I think that the sentences are appropriate…A message has to be sent very clearly to media practitioners, social commentators and lawyers like myself who don’t want to understand the meaning of the judicial process so that red lines are drawn and once you cross them, you come within the firing line and you’ll be fired,” Ndebugri said on the Citi Breakfast Show.

“They have been properly dealt with and I think we should let them serve the four months, pay the fine and come out so that we all learn lessons.”

“Sir John’s case was different”

Several supporters of the jailed trio reference a case during the 2012 election petition, when then General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, was dragged before the Supreme Court for making unsavoury comments about one of the justices.

They argue that as ‘Sir John’ as he is popularly known, was only fined and allowed to go free, the same courtesy should have been extended to the Montie FM trio.

However, John Ndebugri, dismissed these suggestions, stating that  each case was different and that Sir John, unlike the convicted Montie FM panelists, had not threatened to kill any judge.

“Matters are determined on a case by case basis. Sir John’s matter was totally different. He called a judge names. He didn’t say he would kill him. These people [jailed Montie FM men] went to the extreme. There’s no question of equalization,” he said.

He stated that the matter must be addressed devoid of political sentiments as it involved the security of the members of one of the country’s most important institutions.

“I don’t talk from a standpoint of partisanship because some of us are now beyond that. We are very concerned about the stability of this nation so that when we die, we’ll be seen properly. The business of equalisation has no business here. These chaps sat on a radio station and spewed out these words against a very important institution.”

‘Montie boys’ jailed and fined
The Montie FM trio, were also ordered to pay an amount of 10, 000 cedis each or risk serving an extra month in jail.

The directors of the station , were also fined by the court for failing to prevent the incident on their platform.

Network Broadcasting Limited, and Zeze Media, which owns the frequency on which Montie FM is broadcast, were ordered to pay Ghc30,000 each.

In presenting the sentences, the Presiding judge, Sophia Akuffo, stated that the two panelists had willfully attacked the Chief Justice and lowered the authority of the court by insisting that they will not accept its judgment on a controversial matter of the voter's register.

Montie 3 should have gotten 6-months
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 months 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.

By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana