One of the lawyers for the Montie FM trio, George Loh, has told Citi News that his clients would appreciate an opportunity to seek audience with the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, to personally thank him for remitting their four-month sentence by the Supreme Court, after they were found guilty of contempt by the apex court and jailed.
The three walked out of the Akuse Prisons on Friday to a welcome ceremony at the premises of Radio Gold, after they were transferred from the Nsawam Prisons, where they had served one month of their four-month sentence, and paid a fine of GHC10, 000.
George Loh has said that the ceremony to welcome the trio was not meant as a hero’s welcome as some have suggested.
“We made sure that they did not come to a hero’s welcome. Ideally, we could have got people to know when and where they were going to be released. People were prepared to bus themselves there in their numbers but we stopped all that to reinforce the fact that the President was not endorsing a wrongdoing so we took pains,” he said on Eyewitness News.
When asked to comment on reports that there were plans by his clients to meet with the President, Mr. George Loh said, “Well I can assure you that for now, that is not something in our immediate plans.”
“But having said that; let me also admit that it has crossed our minds. I think that at the appropriate time if we are given the opportunity, we will be very happy to take our clients to go and say a personal thank you to the Excellency the President. After all, this is not a legal victory we chalked by making legal arguments in court. This is compassion and mercy shown by his Excellency the President using his powers under Article 72. The President could have clearly refused to use his powers.”
“And so to the extent that he demonstrated that he’s a merciful and compassionate father, we believe that when your father has done something for you, it’s proper that you say thank you. So in the coming days or weeks, if we have the opportunity, we will definitely say a big thank you to his Excellency,” he emphasized.
Grateful to Mahama
The trio on Friday expressed their appreciation to President Mahama when they were freed.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the President, John Mahama for graciously exercising his constitutional powers under Article 72 in our favour in remitting the remaining custodial sentence imposed on us recently,” Mugabe said.
“We would like to thank the Council of State profusely for their role in our release…” he added. The trio had expressed their regret for the comments they made on the Accra-based radio station and called on the President to bear in mind the embarrassment their conduct and incarceration has caused their loved ones, in his consideration of the petition and reverse the “harsh and excessive” sentence. They expressed their gratitude to God for keeping them safe during their incarceration and taking care of their loved ones as well.
“We give praise and thanks to the Almighty for keeping us safe during our imprisonment and given our wives and families strength to cope in the situation we found ourselves in,” Mugabe said.
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