Media trial of judiciary, real or myth?

A legal Practitioner Yone Kolendi has called on the general public to desist from unnecessary vilification of the judiciary to avoid the recurrence of the needless murder of Judges.

He said the judiciary form the heart beat of any democratic dispensation and any attempt to run down the institution would be a recipe for chaos and lawlessness.

He said judges like all human beings have their biases, political, social and emotional inclinations and are prune to make mistakes even in their judgements. But added that the legal structure in Ghana has its own way of correcting blunders by judges.

Speaking on Joy F.M.'s Super Morning show on Monday, Mr. Kolendi advised media practitioners to be abreast with the basic laws of the land in order to educate the general public.

He also called on media houses to employ legal practitioners whose expert advice will help direct the legal affairs of the various media institutions.

Mr. Kolendi was speaking against the backdrop of threatening text messages sent out to some justices after the protracted legal battle involving the former GNPC boss Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata.

In what could be referred to as an immediate reaction, the Deputy General Secretary of the NDC Mr. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah who had called into the programme, said there has been no attempt to vilify the judiciary as an institution from any quarters, but rather, specific judges on particular cases have been up for criticisms due to their perverse verdicts.

Citing the recent Tsatsu Tsikata case, Mr. Ankrah questioned why the judge, Justice Henrietta Abban dared Tsatsu to take her to the media and her comment that the case has been hanging like an albatross on her neck.

Mr. Ankrah however condemned the threatening text messages to the judges, and sent his message of sympathy to the bereaved families of the three high court judges and army officer who were murdered in cold blood some 26 years ago.

Author: Nathan Gadugah