Alexander Afenyo-Markin
Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has criticised the Judiciary for the decision to remand the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC, and other members of the opposition party for misdemeanours, describing it as a “profound constitutional wrong.”
According to him, the arrest, prosecution and remand of a citizen for words spoken in the public square is not justice but a political persecution which must be condemned without equivocation, apology, and without delay.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin, in a press statement, noted that he does not and will never condone “irresponsible speech,” but Ghanaian law does not provide, and was not designed to convert a civil grievance into a criminal prosecution.
He said the law does not authorise the marching of a man before a Circuit Court, the stripping of his liberty, and his consignment to a state intelligence facility. “That is not justice. That is the iron fist of state power wearing a legal glove,” he stated.
“Where speech genuinely damages a person’s reputation, Ghanaian law already provides a remedy. A civil remedy. Measured, proportionate and designed precisely for that purpose,” he pointed out.
Rearrest
Abronye DC was rearrested and remanded into the custody of the Bureau of National Intelligence (BNI), on May 13 over alleged offensive conduct and publication of false news following some allegations he made against a Circuit Court Judge at Adenta.
Political Criticism
Mr. Afenyo-Markin, in a statement, pointed out that political criticism of a public official, however sharp, does not meet the threshold of Section 207(1) under which Abronye DC was charged and dragged to court.
He further notes that “a man expressing a political opinion about judicial conduct is not publishing false news” under Section 208(1) of Act 29.
He also took issue with the judge’s decision to remand Abronye DC because the prosecution in its opposition to an oral application for bail had claimed that the accused was likely to commit the same offence if granted bail.
“When a court denies bail not to serve justice, but to serve silence, it has administered political censorship from the bench. And that, with the greatest of respect, is a betrayal of every principle that gives judicial office its authority, its dignity and its legitimacy,” he argues.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin further revealed that on the basis of information available to him, at the time of issuing the statement, no signed and certified remand order has been produced by the court registry, wondering on what authority officials of BNI remanded Abronye DC.
Criminal Libel/Culture of Silence
Meanwhile, the Minority Leader has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of reintroducing the Criminal Libel Law which was repealed in 2001 through “the back” in order not to attract international condemnation.
He argues that the government is hiding behind Section 207 and 208 of Act 29 to silence Ghanaians who criticise it.
“The charges against Abronye DC, Baba Amando, David Essandoh, and others are, in substance and in effect, criminal libel prosecutions. The only difference is the label on the charge sheet,” he said.
“The intent is the same. The mechanism is the same. The consequence is the same. Arrest. Remand. Imprisonment. Silence,” Mr. Afenyo-Markin added.
The Minority Leader further indicated that the NDC government is gradually introducing a culture of silence in Ghana, but was quick to point out that such an attempt will not succeed.
He noted that the John Mahama administration has calculated that intimidating NPP communicators and silencing its regional leadership will allow it to govern without accountability and shield its mounting incompetence from scrutiny, stating that “that calculation is profoundly wrong. And it will fail.”
Judicial Fairness
The Minority Leader has called on the Judiciary to rise to the accession and protect the rights and liberties of citizens, irrespective of the political climate it finds itself in.
According to him, Ghanaians look to the courts as the last line of defence when the Executive overreaches.
He said that trust is earned by the fearless and impartial application of constitutional principle, especially when the person before the court is politically inconvenient to those in power.
“A court that reserves its constitutional courage for safe and inconsequential cases, and abandons it precisely when it matters most, has dishonoured the robe,” he said.
Demands
Mr. Afenyo-Markin is, therefore, calling for the immediate release of Abronye DC from BNI custody, arguing that his detention is constitutionally indefensible and “must end today.”
He also stated that the NPP’s legal team will mount a full constitutional challenge to this prosecution, including a challenge to the application of Sections 207 and 208 of Act 29 against political speech where civil remedies are available and adequate.
Again, he said Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee must summon the Inspector General of Police and the Director-General of the BNI to publicly account for every decision taken in this matter.
He also called on the High Court to take urgent cognisance of Mr. Abronye’s detention and the reported absence of a signed and certified remand order.
He added that “The day of justice and accountability will come. It will come under this Parliament, or the next. But it will come. That is not a promise. That is a constitutional certainty.”
BY Gibril Abdul Razak