Legal practitioner Egbert Faibille Jnr has disagreed with the claim that the sentence given to the ‘Montie 3’ was too harsh.

Pressure is currently being mounted on President John Mahama from members of his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to invoke Article 72 of the Constitution to grant a presidential pardon to Alistair Nelson, Godwin Ako Gunn, and Salifu Maase, alias Mugabe, who were sentenced to imprisonment for contempt.

Research and Advocacy Platform (RAP), a think tank, is pooling signatures to support a petition to that end.

Lawyers for the contemnors have also petitioned the president to fall on his constitutional powers to free the three.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Saturday news analysis show, ‘Newsfile’, Lawyer Faibille wondered why other people who were sentenced in the past on similar charges were not defended.

"I don’t think the judgement was wrong or harsh…the hypocrisy is too much. Those on the rooftop shouting the most; in 1998 a similar thing happened; so what has changed? Is it because the people involved are party apparatchiks? We need to stop the hypocrisy in this country and respect the institutions of state," he said.