Horrified JUSAG wants ‘Montie two’ sanctioned

Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) is calling on the IGP and the Attorney General to take a leading role to get two political activists sanctioned for issuing death threats to judges.

Alistair Nelsfon and Godwin Ako Gunn are alleged to have threatened judges at the superior courts with death in an ongoing case concerning persons who used the NHIS as a national identity to register as voters.

The comments made on a pro-government radio station, Muntie FM on June 29, 2016, have been condemned by many. The Judicial Service Staff in a statement on Tuesday described the comments as the “last straw” in the surge in inflammatory statements by some political actors and their protégés.

“We are, to say the least, horrified and galled by the reprehensive behavior of the two gentlemen who went to town on the airwaves, castigating and making threats on the lives of no other personalities than venerable Justices of the Superior Courts of Ghana,” JUSAG said in a statement signed by its National President Alex Nartey.

Extolling the importance of the judiciary in nation building, the statement observed, “nothing could be more ominous on the nation than threats on the lives of our judges”.

JUSAG is therefore demanding that necessary steps are taken to ensure that the behavior of the two does not go unpunished. “We call on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) John Kudalor, and the Attorney General, Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah Oppong to bring these miscreants to book in order to serve as a deterrent to others whose inflammatory statement on radio may plunge this country into chaos.”

Meanwhile, the Chief Justice Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood has summoned the owner of an Accra-based Montie FM, and the two political activists to the Supreme Court to show reason why the court should not hold them in contempt for the comments they made.

Nonetheless, the government through the Interior Minister has condemned the “offensive and irresponsible” conduct and assured the judges of maximum protection. “While Government continues to respect freedom of expression, it expects the security agencies to take firm action(s) against persons whose utterances and actions undermine the peace, security and stability of the state,” sector minister, Prosper Bani said.