A private legal practitioner and Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta Ayea, has condemned President John Mahama for granting a pardon to the Montie 3 under Article 72 of the constitution.
Speaking on News File on Accra-based Joy FM on Saturday, Atta Akyea described the move as a case of constitutional lawlessness.
According to him, contempt does not form part of the offences that the president can pardon under Article 72, adding that the article envisages only criminal offences.
The lawyer accused President Mahama of ignoring due process in order to free his “political hirelingsâ€.
Atta Akyea criticised the president for saying, after he granted the Montie 3 pardon, that the media must exercise free speech responsibly.
He questioned why it took the jailing of the Montie 3 him to realise that irresponsible talk could plunge the nation into doom.
Montie FM presenter Salifu Maase, aka, ‘Mugabe’ and panellists Alistair Nelson and Godwin Ako Gunn were jailed four months by the Supreme Court after being found guilty of contempt.
They had reportedly threatened to kill judges who ruled that the Electoral Commission should delete the names of 53,000 NHIS cards registrants from the voters' register.
The president, however, pardoned them a month into their sentence after receiving a petition for him to do so.
In a statement issued by the communications ministry, President Mahama said he had granted the pardon on compassionate grounds in consultation with the council of state.