Former Minister of Transportation, Dr Richard Anane, has noted that the Supreme Court ruling on the case between him and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has freed him from "hell". Dr Anane told the Daily Graphic in Accra that he had gone through hell for months during the period he was accused of corruption and abuse of public office. He was referring to the period when his case dominated the headlines for allegedly transferring huge sums of money to his American mistress, Alexanderia O'Brien, with whom he had a child. Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling to the effect that CHRAJ, which found him guilty, could not investigate allegations based on mere media reports without a formal complaint from identifiable persons, whether legal or natural, Dr Anane blamed his woes on the media. By a 4-1 majority decision, the Supreme Court dismissed the application for certiorari filed by CHRAJ, which sought to quash a High Court decision overturning CHRAJ's decision that Dr Anane had abused his office, committed perjury and engaged in a conflict of interest. The CHRAJ had earlier made adverse findings of conflict of interest, abuse of office and perjury against Dr Anane and recommended, among others, his removal from office. But, dissatisfied with that, Dr Anane resigned his post and contested the matter at the High Court, where CHRAJ's decisions were quashed. However, CHRAJ took the matter to the Supreme Court to invoke its supervisory jurisdiction. Sounding sober but relieved, Dr Anane said, "I feel relieved now because the rule of law has spoken." While accusing the media of prejudice, he said they led discussions for him to be persecuted in public and pronounced him guilty in the court of public opinion. Dr Anane said even when the issues were in court, the media would still not allow the law to decide but were prejudicial of the issues. "It is hard to gain reputation and therefore, if some people find it a duty to destroy what one has built over the years, it hurts," he added. Dr Anane said the media would be more responsible if they endeavoured to cross-check issues at all times before going public with the facts. He said every profession was bound by ethics and the media were no exception, but wondered why some practitioners pretended they were not bound by journalistic ethics. He expressed his profound appreciation to the President, traditional rulers and all well-wishers for their support for him in those trying times and expressed the hope that nothing of such nature would recur in the future. Asked Whether he would accept to go back to his position, he said, "When we get to the river, we shall cross it." Source: Daily Graphic