Mould-Iddrisu pleads for Montie contemnors

Former Attorney General Betty Mould-Iddrisu has pleaded with the Supreme Court to tamper justice with mercy for directors of Accra-based Montie FM as well as for two panellists and the host of the station’s Pampaso show, on which death threats were issued at the justices of the Supreme Court.

Panellists Alistair Nelson and Godwin Ako Gunn and show host Salifu Maase, aka Mugabe, as well as owners and directors of the station, have been found guilty of scandalising the court, defying and lowering the authority of the court, and bringing it into disrepute for issuing death threats against the justices on June 29, 2016, on the eve of the anniversary of Martyrs Day, commemorated every year to mark the murder of three High Court judges and a military officer in 1982 during the days of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).

Mrs Mould-Iddrisu, in a statement, said the conduct of the contemnors was “reprehensible and distasteful”.

Although she agreed that “a lesson must be learnt, sanity must prevail on our airwaves, institutions of government must be respected, the decision of the Courts must be sacred or contested under the rules governing it and that the dignity of all Ghanaians must be revered”, she pleaded that the justices take cognisance of the remorse showed by the contemnors and the actions taken by the owners of the station for a mitigated sentence.

The vice chair of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) appealed to media outlets to ensure optimum civil discussions without the noises that have the potential of attracting contempt charges and civil suits against them.

“We have enjoyed enviable press freedom, freedom of speech and judicial freedom which must be protected and celebrated,” she added.

The Supreme Court has set July 27 as the date for sentencing the contemnors. They have been granted self-recognisance bail.