President John Dramani Mahama has for the first time spoken about his use of Article 72, to remit the four-month sentence handed the Montie FM trio, saying he acted in the interest of Ghana; and in line with the Constitution.
Speaking to Paul Adom Otchere, Host of Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana on Tuesday, the President said he also believes that the four-month sentence was harsh for the crime in question; and that the contemnors had showed ample remorse for their actions.
“I think that the overriding consideration must be that, all arms of government must act constitutionally and I swore an oath on the 7th of January 2013 to abide by the Constitution and so every action I take must be in consonant with the Constitutional provisions. The young men were called before the Supreme Court for scandalizing the court and even before they were called before the court, they had shown remorse; they had apologized for what they said and before the court they apologized again.”
“When they were sentenced in mitigation they asked for mercy; apologized and retracted everything they said. And even after they were sentenced and left the court and went to prison; they still in written and verbal form expressed absolute regret for what they did. I don’t know what benefit it would have been to anybody the three extra months they would have served in prison; I don’t know.”
The trio, Alistair Nelson, Godwin Ako Gunn and Salifu Maase, alias Mugabe, Host of Montie FM’s Pampaso political show, were jailed after they were found guilty of contempt charges for threatening to eliminate or harm Supreme Court judges over their handling of a lawsuit on the credibility of the voters’ register.
Council of State approved their release
President Mahama revealed that, the Council of State indeed recommended the remission of the sentence after he forwarded the petition to them.
“Recently, I abided vigorously by Article 72. I received the petition of the lawyers from the three and they stated all the grounds for which they thought that I should invoke my powers under article 72, narrating every step of the way; the regret they had shown and appealing for mercy; and so I did exactly what the Constitution said I should do.”
He noted that “I referred it to the Council of State and the Council came back to me and recommended that I exercise my powers under Article 72, not in terms of pardoning them. They remain convicted and that’s what a lot of people do not realize. They remain convicted, they paid Ghc30, 000 in fines and that money is in the state coffers. But what I did was that, instead of letting them spend four months in prison, they spent one month in prison. Indeed if you look at the conviction and the sentencing, the general consensus was that, four months was quite a harsh punishment to have been imposed for that kind of crime. And so I believe that I acted constitutionally and it was in the interest of Ghana.”
The Montie trio with their legal team.
Asked whether he would have done the same if the three were not members of the NDC, the President responded “absolutely”.
Pushing further, the Host Paul Adom Otchere, asked the President if he would have pardoned his [Paul’s] younger brother who found himself in a similar contempt case at Asankragua; and this was his response; “It depends on the grounds. I mean if your younger brother went a raped a girl and you come with a petition asking me to mitigate the sentence, I most probably wouldn’t.
He explained that, “For the spoken word; you are a journalist and I am a journalist; and you can find yourself in the same situation. All of us must walk that fine line of being careful about what we say. But there are times when journalists have found themselves in this situation. Haruna Atta, Kweku Baako is one such case; these things happen; and that’s why the Constitution created escape valve.”
“Our Constitution is that of checks and balances; so you have the Parliament checking the powers of the President, you have the Supreme Court as the arbiter. And the Constitution drafters put in the prerogative of mercy, for the circumstances where even though a conviction may be right, there must be some exonerating power that is able to say that; yes you were convicted properly but we are able to grant you this remission based on certain factors. It must not be arbitrary; and that’s why there again; they say it must be in consultation with the Council of State. The Council of State is an elderly body; it’s a body above the President; some of the members are elected; others have served in very important positions in their lives and so it says the President must consult the council. And so even though they give the President that power, again they put a check on it so that it’s not done with arbitrary discretion” Mr. Mahama explained.
Background
The three men, who are sympathizers of the ruling party, walked out of the prison on Friday August 26, after they were imprisoned in July.
Critics of the President’s decision to free them have been described the move as a slur on the judiciary.
Generally, the accusation is that, the President only bowed to pressure in the interest of his party considering the upcoming elections, and not in the larger national interest.
Some also believe the act would embolden others to move along the same trajectory in the future, to jeopardize the peace and stability of the country.
But for supporters of the ruling party, the President only acted constitutionally and on compassionate grounds.
– citifmonline