As Ghana approaches the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections, a deputy minister of education (tertiary), Sammy Okudzeto Ablakwa has said he prays the incarceration of the three Montie FM contemnors does not further increase political tension in the country.

Montie FM presenter Salifu Maase, aka Mugabe, and two radio panellists, Alistair Nelson and Godwin Ako Gunn, have all been sentenced to four months in prison for scandalising the Supreme Court and bringing it into disrepute as a result of death threats issued against justices of the court by the two panellists who appeared on Mugabe’s Pampaso show on the station a few weeks ago. They were found guilty of contempt and sentenced accordingly.

Apart from the jail sentence, each of the three contemnors has been fined a sum of GHS10000. The owners of the station including Mr Harry Zakkour, who is also the second vice chairman of the governing National Democratic Congress, as well as Mr. Edward Addo, Ato Ahwoi, and Kwesi Kyei Atuah, have been fined GHS30,000 each. They are to pay the fine by the end of Thursday July 28 or risk jail term.

The owners have also been asked by the Supreme Court to submit policy documents spelling out how to forestall similar happenings in the future. They have also been asked to ensure that none of their media outlets will be used to scandalise the court or bring it into disrepute.

Some leading figures of the governing party as well as the NDC itself have described the sentence as “harsh”. Supporters and sympathisers of the NDC are also gearing up to petition the president to use his prerogative of mercy powers to free the three.

Amidst these developments, Mr. Ablakwa wrote on his Facebook wall: “A jail term is not something I will wish for even an enemy. As a former deputy minister of information, my thoughts and prayers are with the Montie Three, the staff, and management of Network Broadcasting Co. Ltd. and indeed the entire media fraternity in Ghana and abroad”.

“I honestly, like most Ghanaians and press freedom advocates I have interacted with, did not expect this outcome, especially after the profuse remorse showed by the gentlemen and their lawyers and the fact that the BNI had assured the nation that there was no credible lead or capacity by the affected persons to carry out their threats upon arrest and interrogation.

“I believe it is possible to guarantee the safety of our judges and at the same time protect media freedoms within a fine balance that ensures that any of these do not feel under attack. I am not sure we have achieved this under the current circumstances. I pray this development does not further increase the political temperature, as we approach the December 7 elections, a consequence which must be avoided. Let cool heads, mercy, solidarity, and fairness prevail. Ghana first.”