My Lords, I hope I can address all of you as such in the course of my article, regardless of gender, as you deliver your punishment today, the humanity in you, will damn those who are asking for the blood of these young men.
My Lords, every well-meaning and right-thinking Ghanaian, who have had the benefit of listening to the tape, cannot but come to the conclusion that, the language was in bad taste, the invectives unnecessary, the threats completely unwarranted and uncalled for, so we share in your burden, all we ask of you is that, despite their folly, you can see the goodness in them to have accepted that, they went overboard and have actually apologized.
My Lords, I wish I had the presence of mind to write this letter earlier to you, it is my hope that, you get the opportunity to read or hear of my humble appeal, before you raise the gavel to deliver your judgment.
My Lords, in the course of your duties you might have received very dangerous threats and have found yourselves in life threatening positions more than this.
Some of you might have started from the Bar, before you joined the Bench; some started from the Bench and have gone through the ropes to reach the apex of your career. In all these years and experiences, you have come under threats more than you care to count; you surmounted the obstacles, shrugged off the threats and went ahead to do your jobs to the best of your abilities and within the remit of the law.
My Lords, I am not a learned friend, as you call yourselves, but I have been around long enough or at least the benefit of following the election petition, has thought me what contempt of court is. It is the only remedy available to you as Judges, when you are injured in the course of your duties.
The beauty of it is that, it lies in your bosom and so whatever punishment you deem fit, is what you hand down to the offender.
My Lords, if you listen to the arguments going on in the media, you will be tempted to jail the young men and asked that, the keys to the prison gate, be thrown away, but they is another remedy available to you and that is to tell them to go and sin no more.
You should be worried and rightly so that, the madness on the airwaves, the debasing of our leaders, especially politicians on air by their assigns, is assuming a proportion that is scary. You should be worried that, if nothing is done, one day we must just have ourselves to be blamed.
I know you do not have time, as the exigencies of your job, will not permit you to listen to the radio, but please if you have time do from 6am in the morning to about 10 am, and in the afternoon, as well as evening and you will realize that, we are gradually getting to tipping point.
The common man must still keep his faith and the judiciary is his last defender. When all hopes are lost, the judiciary will be there to restore the hope.
My Lords, from the above, it is obvious that, we need you, you are our last hope, the Executives have been taken to the cleaners, the judiciary have not been spared either, so when you don’t step in to restore sanity, we will all be doomed.
The trio, have all shown remorse, they have apologized, they appear before you today as sinners, who have fallen short of your glory, the God of heaven must touch your heart, to forgive their trespasses.
The jubilation that should follow your judgment must be one that as we say, is a victory for democracy, not one that should send families home, shedding tears and wailing for their families.
My Lords, as you showed mercy in the face of agitations for the punishment of Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Hopeson Adorye, Sammy Awuku, Youth Organiser of the NPP, when they appeared before during the election petition remorseful, I pray that you extend the same to the trio.
Your invitation is enough to make even a drunkard sober, a mad man sane, you have exerted your authourity already, by inviting them and setting them free, to tell them to go and sin no more, will have sent a strong signal to the rest of us that, freedom indeed comes with responsibility.
The whole country is looking up to you today, it is judgment day for the trio, we are on our knees begging, pleading that, you temper justice with mercy.
My Lords, the life of the three young men are in your hands, you are going to determine their destiny from today. Will they go home and sin no more or they will be put behind bars, the decision is in your bosom, I am only entreating your Justices, to set them free.
You have shaken their resolve already; they have been shown their real size, they know now that, it is not everybody that, you can insult, threaten and get away with. Whatever lesson they should be thought, they have been thought already. I am sure next time they will stay away from discussing the Apex Court of the land, the way they did.
My Lords, whatever decision you arrive at today, know that, we will respect it and it will be in the process of entrenching our democracy. It will be a victory for what we all fought for in the run up to 1992.
Democracy, will be the winner in all of this, the rule of law and not the rule of men, will ultimately triumph.
In conclusion My Lords, we appreciate your sacrifices, taking on a job that, cuts you from many of the liberties that some of us enjoy. Your job demands a lot of sacrifice and you have given everything up just to serve society and humanity.
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