NDC prosecuted NPP members when they were in power - Frank Davies

NDC petition baseless and inappropriate, Davies

Govt not harassing NDC members, Frank Davies

NDC accuses govt of harassment

The head of the legal team for the NPP, Frank Davies, has described the petition by the NDC to the Commonwealth Secretariat over allegations of government harassment as baseless and inappropriate.

According to him, when in power, the NDC (National Democratic Congress) also prosecuted members of the previous government who were accused of wrongdoings, myjoyonline.com reports.

Davies said if members of the NDC have not committed crimes against the state, they should have nothing to fear because Ghana's legal system is fair.

He added that arraigning persons alleged to have done wrong before the courts cannot be described as intimidation.

"So if they are in court, they have the best of lawyers they should let the court system rule. Is the NDC trying to tell Ghanaians that when they were in power, they didn't arraign NPP members before court? … So if the court system is working, the NDC is trying to say because they are NDC, they should not be arraigned before the court?

"If charges have been proffered in court and prosecution is being rolled, I wonder how anyone can complain of harassment and persecution. If you've fallen foul of the law, should you be taken to a fetish groove or a shrine or a cave in some forest? You obviously have to go to court and answer the charge," myjoyonline.com quoted him.

The opposition, NDC, has announced it has lodged a petition with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat over what it describes as a gross violation of the human rights of its leading members by the NPP (New Patriotic Party) government.

The NDC contends that the use of the judiciary by the current administration to intimidate and harass its members sharply contradicts the tenets of good governance.

The party further indicated that the petition is to draw the attention of the international body to instances of abuse of the judiciary, political persecutions, and abuse of human rights.