Brong Ahafo Youth for Development, a pressure group in the region, has urged the Chief Justice to treat Anas Amereyaw Anas in the same way as the judges implicated in his judicial scandal video if they are found culpable.
The chairman of the group, Prince Diawuo, at a press conference yesterday at Sunyani, noted that Anas Aremeyaw Anas was equally guilty of inducing the judges implicated in his video footages because per the laws of the country, “The giver and the taker are both guilty in a bribery scandal”.
Prince Diawuo could not fathom why the judges were being ridiculed in the eyes of the public while the investigative journalist is being hailed. “Is Anas now above the laws of the country because he has clandestinely touched the most sensitive part of the country, which is the judiciary?” he asked.
He said if the judges were found guilty per the video footages, then Anas too must not go unpunished per the laws regarding bribery. Prince Diawuo indicated that the motive behind Anas’ investigation is malicious and meant to destroy the hard won reputation of the judges , and it was time the entire nation thought deep in assessing the process, the act and the premiering of the video to safeguard the reputation of the leaders of the country.
According to the group, it was a blatant abuse of the laws for the ace investigative journalist to premiere the much anticipated video on judicial corruption despite an application for injunction against the showing of it.
He said the premiering of the documentary was an act of “lawlessness and impunity” and asked the general public to critically assess the manner and motive for which the said investigations were conducted and showed to the public, to put things right.
Prince Diawuo noted that Anas’ video would have been a masterpiece if the judges were to be caught in the act without being lured into committing it.
“However, looking at the video the act was instigated by the journalist which looked a bit deceptive. Though there is the perception that corruption has long existed and there must be a move to deal with it, that must be done in a fair and just manner without destroying the hard won reputation of people,” he said.
He, therefore, called on the Ghana Bar Association to come out with a legal interpretation on the method Anas used in the investigation, to save the image of the Bar and the Bench.
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