Senior journalist Abdul Malik Kweku Baako says if the High Court convicts any person(s) of contempt for airing Anas’ video, the contemnors may share prison with some of judges implicated in the judicial bribery scandal.
The Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper said he is not worried at all by an avalanche of contempt suits in the wake of the screening of a video detailing judicial bribery.
He said when the noises die down, Ghana would be driven by the contents of the video to take steps that would make the state better.
A two-year investigative video compiled by journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas showing 34 judges allegedly taking bribes has shocked the nation and dominated media discussions for weeks.
Two of the 12 High Court judges accused of taking bribes have gone to the High Court challenging the legality of the audio-visual recordings.
Justices Paul Uuter Dery and Mustapha Habib Logoh say the recordings were done in violation of the right to privacy.
They want the court to declare that the ‘evidence’ cannot be used to institute any impeachment proceedings against them.
Justice Dery filed a separate application for interlocutory injunction seeking to stop the Accra International Conference Centre from allowing Anas to screen the video there.
Even though the injunction processes were served on managers of the Conference Centre, the screening came off as scheduled on September 22 and 23.
Justice Dery went back to court and cited the Manager of the conference centre amongst other for contempt.
His lawyer, Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, argued the serving of the injunction processes acted as an injunction.
He said the conduct of the managers of the centre scandalized the court and had the tendency to bring the delivery of justice into disrepute.
Speaking on the matter on Joy FM and MultiTV’s news analysis programme Newsfile, he said the cases being brought to court will not dim the effect of the evidence collected by Anas.
He said the processes should be allowed and those cited must enjoy their constitutional right to presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
But “contempt-phobia is not going to be able to stop the momentum that this Anas video evidence has unleashed on this great nation,” he said.
He said the long queues at the Accra International Conference when the video was being screen is a demonstration of Ghanaians’ appreciation of the seriousness of Anas’ findings.
“You saw the people, that was the people’s verdict. Fortunately, [however], for the judges who are the subject of the evidence, the people’s verdict is not conclusive; they are going to go through a certain laid processes that the constitution stipulates and the processes are underway,” stressed.
The Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood has constituted a five-member committee to probe 22 lower court judges involved in the scandal.
The 12 High Court judges (two of whom are now on retirement) have been asked to submit written responses to the allegations. The Chief Justice is trying to establish prima facie case against them.
Justices Dery and Logoh are contesting the legality of the proceedings instituted by the CJ.
Kweku Baako said it was their legal right to do so.
“Those who have been cited for contempt, assuming there is a legitimate basis, and some of us – I’m not sure I’m part of it – end up in jail, I can see some of these judges joining them, they will all be prison inmates,” he stated.
He said given that judges are required to have proven integrity and high moral standing, he was wondering whether any of the judges filmed allegedly receiving bribes can back to the courts and preside over cases and administer justice after the legal vacation.
He said the screening of the video was necessary to dispel distortions and attempts to discredit the work done by Anas – a young man he gave an opportunity more than a decade ago even if he frequently discounts his role in how Anas has turned out.
Source: Myjoyonline.com