The National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi says Dr Dominic Ayine cannot be punished for expressing his opinion on an issue.
Dr Ayine at a CDD roundtable discussion on ‘Presidential Election Petitions and their Impact on Africa’s Democracy’ reportedly questioned the independence of Ghana’s judiciary.
Dr Ayine said: “I expected the Supreme Court to apply faithfully the rules of procedure to – in terms of adducing evidence – prove the petitioner’s case and so on. What we saw was a Supreme Court that was constantly putting hurdles in the way of the petitioner in terms of adducing evidence to prove the petitioner’s case.
However, the statement did not go down well with the Chief Justice, Anin-Yeboah who referred to the General Legal Council for investigation comments made by the former deputy Attorney General.
Reacting to the issue, Sammy Gyamfi stated that Ghana is a democratic state and nobody can be prosecuted for expressing his opinion on a matter.
“Ghana is a democratic country and so the 1992 Constitution which is being used to govern the country allows everybody to express their opinion or the freedom of expression. In view of this, anybody can express their opinion or views after a judgment has been given on a case”.
“The opinion may not favour the Chief Justice, or it may not base on law, and it may be wrong, but that is the opinion of someone and the person is entitled to it and the law says that the person cannot be persecuted or harassed for expressing their opinion”.
“We in the NDC would have understood Justice Anin-Yeboah if his petition to the General Legal Council is based on the fact that he [Dr. Ayine] has denigrated and insulted the 7 judges who sat on the 2020 election petition, but he did not rebuke the Supreme Court. Dr Ayine was talking about his confidence in the Judiciary and nobody can punish anybody about his or her opinion on an issue,” he argued.
Source: TheBBCghana.Com
