Mr. Paul Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the National Media Commission and a legal practitioner on Monday urged lawyers to rise up to defend the judiciary against “current undeserved vitriolic attacks”. “I urge my colleague lawyers to rise up in defence of the Judiciary now or never. For, by defending the Judiciary we shall be defending the Constitution and by defending the Constitution we shall be defending democracy, in Ghana,” he said. Mr Adu-Gyamfi, who gave the advice in statement, said it was not easy in any human endeavour to be a loser but it took courage as mortal beings to lose gracefully. He said, “the current undeserved vitriolic attacks against the Judiciary and the stone silence of members of the Bar to publicly condemn such attacks have made (lawyers) accomplices to such infamy”. Mr Adu-Gyamfi, who is also a Notary Public, stated that in the early sixties after the government of the day had lost a political case, the then Attorney-General described the outcome of the treason trial as “a travesty of justice”. He said recently lead lawyers of the Free Tsatsu Movement described a ruling of the Supreme Court as “desecration of justice” at the highest court of the land even though they intend to go there for a Review. He said a lawyer/plaintiff after losing his case at an Accra Fast Track High Court described the decision as “bogus” whilst serving notice of his intention to go on appeal. “As if that is not enough ex-President J.J. Rawlings a few days ago is reported to have said at Navrongo that the ‘Judiciary rigged the 2004 Elections for the NPP’ because of an alleged delay in the hearing of a case in court.” Mr Adu-Gyamfi said by the very nature of the job, Judges cannot defend themselves against such unwarranted attacks and it was therefore left to members of the Bar to stand up and speak out. He stated that at the commissioning of the Court of Appeal Complex in Kumasi by President John Agyekum Kufuor last Thursday, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Mr Joe Ghartey deplored the attitude of some lawyers and members of the public for condemning judges just because “they don’t agree with them in their ruling”. He added that the Attorney General indicated that such practices cast a slur on the integrity of judges and undermined the administration of justice in the country. Source: GNA