(Free Expression Ghana/IFEX) – On 31 July 1998, the Court of Appeal dismissed an application for bail filed by jailed editors Haruna Atta (“The Weekend Statesman”), and Kweku Baako Jr. (“The Guide”), pending the determination of an appeal against their conviction. In a split decision, the Court ruled that the application was unmeritorious. Justices J. […]
(Free Expression Ghana/IFEX) – On 31 July 1998, the Court of Appeal
dismissed an application for bail filed by jailed editors Haruna Atta (“The
Weekend Statesman”), and Kweku Baako Jr. (“The Guide”), pending the
determination of an appeal against their conviction. In a split decision,
the Court ruled that the application was unmeritorious.
Justices J. D. Sarpong and Essilfie-Bondzie dismissed the application while
Justice Benin upheld the submission for bail.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 30, 28 and 24 July 1998**
In his submission, Nana Akufo-Addo, counsel for the applicants, said his
clients had filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against their conviction
and since this appeal will not be heard until the courts resume from
vacation in October, they ought to be granted bail so that in the likelihood
of their winning the appeal, they would not have been done an injustice.
He said the applicants would not have any recourse to compensation should
they win the appeal after having served the month-long jail terms. The
application, he said, was not to challenge the validity of the court
decision, since that would be handled by the Supreme Court.
Mr. Hayibor, counsel for First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, however,
opposed the application saying the court ruling should not be disturbed. He
also noted that the applicants have not shown any remorse even after their
conviction, adding that they were still continuing with their contemptuous
behaviour. He said papers edited by the two journalists have created an
erroneous impression that the courts are influenced by
politics with the intention of bringing the administration of justice into
disrepute.
The applicants should instead have purged themselves of the contempt before
coming to court, he said. Nana Akufo-Addo, however, disputed this assertion
as unfair and intended to prejudice the outcome of the application.
Background Information
On 23 July 1998, the Court of Appeal found Atta and Baako Jr. guilty of
contempt of court. The two were each sentenced to one month’s imprisonment.
Lawyers for the journalists immediately filed a notice of appeal together
with a stay of execution of the court’s order pending the hearing of the
application. Freedom of expression observers in Ghana feared that with the
vacation of the Supreme Court beginning at the end of July, any delay in
granting bail would mean that the two editors would have to spend a month in
custody, thus, by default, effectively serving their terms by the time the
Courts resume business in October to hear their application of the stay of
execution (see IFEX alerts of 30, 28 and 24 July 1998).
