Stephen Atubiga, one of the three social commentators appearing before the panel of judges hearing the election petition case asked the judges to “temper justice with mercy” and forgive him for his comments about the case. “Temper justice with mercy and give me a second chance in life and I promise I will put out good life and do what is right,” he said. The judges hearing the election petition ordered Ken Kuranchie, editor of the Daily Searchlight, Stephen Atubiga and Kweku Boahen both of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to appear before them for making prejudicial comments. The first to appear before the court was Stephen Atubiga who asked the judges to give him a “second chance.” He appealed: “I will take responsibility for [my comments]; My Lords I apologize for my irresponsible statements, I should have been a little bit careful and chosen my words very carefully. I think it will not happen again; and just for the record I started apologizing even before I got the sermon, it will not happen again. “I am responsible for my action, it was irresponsible of me and if I am given another chance on any platform that I get, I will use that as a positive tool to put out there responsible comments”. However, Kweku Boahen denied making the said comments as reported by the Statesman newspaper and asked the Supreme Court to investigate. “The publication is false. I have never made any comment on any FM station in Kumasi. On the said date, I did not go to a radio station. The manager of the radio station is ready to testify. The Supreme Court is the highest court of the land and as a responsible citizen; I will never do anything to undermine the authority and supremacy of the Supreme Court of the land. I appeal to Your Lordships to investigate the matter thoroughly to bring the perpetrators to book.” Mr. Ken Kuranchie was represented by lawyer Atta Akyea who told the Court his client did not mean to disrespect the judges. “I crave your indulgence in having a very elastic heart in trying to understand where my client is coming from because some lawyers are very confused as to the distinction between reportage, factual accuracy and commentary,” he stated. He further stated that “there is no trace that Ken Kuranchie is trying to abuse this honourable court. As a matter of fact, if you read between the lines, he is not prejudging the matter.” But the judges were displeased with one of them asking Mr. Atta Akyea “Are you trying to justify what Mr Kuranchie said?” “My lord we don’t even understand so many things. My Lord he was of the view that we are not sure what to comment on and what not to comment on,” Mr. Atta Akyea added. “So in other words, we shouldn’t have summoned him?” Another judge asked. “Is there justice in the land? The lose talkers the Supreme Court did not see or hear.” This is not any different from telling us that some people talk loosely and we let them go and others talk loosely and we clamp down on them. This exactly is what Sammy Awuku said and it merited him his punishment; which he apologized for. We said we were going to draw a line so any loose talker after the line will be punished, but you are still going back and saying some people talk loosely earlier, we didn’t punish them and some people later. That is drawing attention to the fact that we are being biased and that is what we are interested in punishing," another judge also added. After a back and forth between the judges and Mr. Atta Akyea, it was agreed that Mr. Kuranchie should answer questions himself. Earlier on Tuesday, lawyers for the parties involved in the ongoing Election Petition have unanimously condemned utterances that amount to a usurpation of the powers of the Supreme Court. Counsel for the third Respondent, Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata who was the first to speak after the court went on recess said merely because one is a member of the NDC does not give him/her the right to make contemptuous comments against the judges and the Supreme Court. Philip Addison supported fully the views expressed by his colleague, adding that supporters of the NPP must equally take note. Tony Lithur who represents the president said his colleagues have lucidly expressed the views shared by all. Quarshie-Idun lawyer for the EC, on his part stated that they will not support comments that bring the administration of justice into disrepute.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 20:30:42 +0000