The opposition NDC party says it’s running mate’s plea for clemency for the infamous “Montie trio” who had been jailed by the Supreme Court for threatening then Chief Justice, and scandalizing the court in 2016 was an act of compassion and not an endorsement of vice.

According to the party, she only signed the petition to mitigate the harsh sentences of the three (3) convicts, after they had served 6 weeks in prison and paid GH¢10,000 each, as fines for scandalizing the Supreme Court.

Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman in 2016 joined hundreds of senior NDC members who signed a petition to then-President Mahama asking him to pardon the trio which he did.

Following her announcement as the running mate for NDC Flagbearer for the 2020 election, the former Minister of Education has been hugely criticized by a section of the public for calling for the release of the trio who had attacked her fellow woman of high standing in society.

But addressing a press conference in Accra, the National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi stated that Prof. Naana Opoku Agyeman’s decision to sign the petition doesn’t in any way mean that she endorsed their unfortunate comments as the NPP would have the world to believe.

“It must be noted that the woman we are talking about is a responsible and caring mother of three and a loving grandmother. Good mothers are known to forgive their children when they go wrong, and after they are disciplined.

“Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang did not only support the punishment of the “MONTIE TRIO” through due process, but she also identified with the repentance and remorse shown by the young men and sought lesser punishment for them. Her plea for lesser punishment for the “MONTIE TRIO” was therefore not a vice, but an act of compassion and a virtue.”

He added: “It is worthy of note, that this was not the first time the country was witnessing such calls for lesser punishment for those who were found to have scandalized the court by their unguarded utterances. You may recall how lawyers from both NPP and NDC and several Ghanaians, pleaded for clemency for the NPP’s Sammy Awuku and the late Sir John, may his soul rest in perfect peace, when they were found to have scandalized the Supreme Court during the Election Petition case.”