Radio Gold, Montie FM off air hours after contempt ruling

Two radio brands under the staple of the Network Broadcasting Limited, Radio Gold and Montie FM have gone off air hours after the Supreme Court ruling on the contempt case involving the company.

Both frequencies, 90.5MHz and 100.1MHz appear jammed up for almost two hours now.

It is unclear if the development is connected to the contempt ruling by the court which saw a Montie FM presenter and two panelists heading to jail for four months.

Alistair Nelson, Godwin Ako Gunn all belonging to the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and talk show host Salifu Maase aka ‘Mugabe’ were jailed Wednesday after they were found guilty for issuing death threats to judges of the Supreme Court.

They were also fined Ghc10, 000 each and if they fail to pay the fine by close of work Thursday July 28, 2016, they will each serve an additional one month term in prison.

Owners of the station were all found guilty of contempt and have been fined GHc30, 000, to be paid to the court by close of day Thursday or face a jail term of one month.

Nelson, Ako Gunn and Maase were immediately whisked into a Police van and taken away to the prison where they would serve their sentence.

The accused were found guilty for scandalizing the court, defying and lowering the authority of the court and bringing it into disrepute by the court presided over by Justice Sophia Akuffo.

Nelson apologized to the apex court for his utterances claiming he was under the influence of a strange disease known in the local parlance as “kpokpogbligbli.”

He promised never to make such comments again.

‘Mugabe’ has also pleaded for forgiveness because he has been a journalist of good repute for 15 years.

Their lawyers pleaded with the court that, they are first time offenders and the court should have mercy on them but the presiding judge stated that the media and all radio panelists must learn valuable lessons from today's ruling and stop unnecessary attacks on the courts and its judges.