Former President of the Greater Accra Bar Association, Frank Davies, says he was in disbelief and shock after learning some legal practitioners have joined the bandwagon to petition President Mahama over convicted Montie 3.
He says their action, which goes against the very system they are supposed to defend, will unroll the strides the justice system has made in the country.
“I am very saddened, very embarrassed that whatever is going on now is being pushed by lawyers. When we act as lawyers and do things as lawyers we should be guided. If you want to go that route, you will never develop the judicial system,” he told Nana Ansah Kwao IV, host of MultiTV’s news analysis programme, PM Express Monday.
The incarceration of a journalist, Salifu Maase popularly known as Mugabe and two panelists, Alistair Taro Nelson and Godwin Ako Gunn of Montie FM following the sentencing by the Supreme Court (SC) for contempt of the court has sparked controversy in the country.
Whereas sections of Ghanaians are in support of the conviction of the three men, faithful of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) are in fierce opposition.
They claim the presiding judge Sophia Akufo went to the extreme in slamming four months jail term and a penalty of GHC10,000 each on the three men.
Considering the option for a review of the custodial sentence appears slim, lawyers for the convicted men in collaboration with a pro-NDC group called the Research and Advocacy Platform (RAPS) decided to solicit enough signatures to compel President Mahama to activate his powers in Article 72 of the 1992 Constitution.
The powers, which is one of the special powers enjoyed by a sitting President, enjoins him to grant pardon to convicted individuals. However, this must be done in consultation with the nation’s Council of State.
One of the lawyers for the men, George Loh, has said the petition is not meant to compel the President to behave in a manner he does not wish to.
"What people don't understand is that we are not putting a gun on the head of the President to give reprieve to the three men. He can decide to pardon them or not. We are only pleading with him to do something about their custodial sentences," he said.
But the former Greater Accra Bar Association president has disagreed with Mr Loh saying their action, as lawyers, will serve as a setback for the justice system in the country.
According to him, the discretion to prosecute the three men for contempt of the court rests with the judges and not lawyers.
If the custodial sentence handed down to the trio was harsh, the lawyers have no option than to accept it the way it is, he said.
“What has happened is not something without precedent,” he said, adding, the circumstances the trio finds themselves is not something that deserves a prerogative of mercy by the President.
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