The Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr has said that media freedom is not the preserve of media practitioners alone, but also one that is to be enjoyed by every citizen in the country.

His comment comes after Lawyers of the Judicial Service of Ghana cautioned all media houses in the country to desist from publishing hateful, indecent and offensive statements against judges.

Their concern, they say “arises from the publication and/or permitting the publication of a series of incendiary, hateful and offensive statements, and speeches on their various platforms against the Justices.

The Judicial Service, as a result, called for the removal of such statements and speeches from media platforms, otherwise, “appropriate action will be taken” to ensure that “the media do not abuse the right to free speech”.

But speaking at a press briefing Monday, the Veteran Journalist said that there was no justification for the statement issued by the Justices of the Supreme Court as media freedom is for the benefit of all Ghanaians.

"Media freedom does not belong to practitioners. Media freedom is a freedom that is enjoyed by every citizen. So there can be no justification for this statement full of threats. There can be no justification for this attempt to return back to the place of the culture of silence".

He added that "Judges are not the only people who have been killed in this country, regrettable as the killing of judges may be, we have had a history of the assassination of journalists. Recently, Ahmed Suale, even his killers have not been found.

"So, are we entitled to also be issuing threats to other professionals and so on are we entitled? And if we are not entitled to be issuing threats, because some of our colleagues have been killed judges also have no right to be right to be issuing threats to us on accounts of the fact that some of their people have been killed," he stressed.