Legal practitioner, Maurice Ampaw has revealed that he will soon head to the Supreme Court and appeal for a review of the president’s pardon for the Montie trio.
He argued that, the president’s powers to pardon do not include pardon for contemnors.
Earlier, a leading member of pressure group - Occupy Ghana - Ace Ankomah suggested that although the President has exercised his constitutional powers by freeing the Montie 3, that decision can be reviewed.
He said whereas no one can question the exercise of president’s powers to pardon prisoners, someone can go to court and ask for the exercise of those powers to be tested against the standard for exercise of all constitutional or statutory dominated powers.
President John Mahama recently granted remission of the remainder of the four-month jail sentence imposed on the trio by the Supreme Court. Alistair Nelson, Godwin Ako Gunn, and Salifu Maase (Mugabe) were found guilty of scandalising the Supreme Court, defying and lowering its authority, and bringing it into disrepute and handed the custodial sentence plus a fine.
While the governing party has welcomed the remission, opposition parties have criticised the president for freeing the trio. The Montie 3 have since been freed from the Nsawam Medium Security Prison today, Friday 26 August.
However Maurice Ampaw says he and other colleague lawyers are heading to the Supreme Court to seek an overturn of the president’s pardon. On his part, Charles Owusu, a member of the Progressive Peoples Party has expressed his support and he is considering joining the suit.
<<Print>>