A New Jersey court in the United States (USA) found Kennedy O’Hane Agyapon and one other person responsible for the defamation case and awarded him $18 million.
Investigative journalist Anas Alemeyo Anas and the plaintiff filed a lawsuit, with former Assin Central lawmaker Agyapon and social media commentator Frederick Asamore joining the defendants.
These damages stem from a statement made on television following the airing of the BBC documentary “Butraying the Game” on October 28, 2018.
Mr Anas sued a former member of the Accra, the High Court, where Judge Eric Baa was the main side, but the trial was dismissed by the court and the costs of GH¢50,000 awarded to Anas were dismissed.
ANAS appealed the decision in the Supreme Court on the grounds of bias and lack of jurisdiction in the Court High Court, but was defeated by a 3-2 majority decision.
Supreme Court Justice Gertrude Alaba Sackie Turkeyneau, Judge Henrietta Mensa Bonsaw and Asidu supported the High Court’s decision, but Judges Emmanuel Yoni Krendy and Yusif Amadou Tanko opposed.
Frustrated by the outcome in Apex court, ANAS launched a lawsuit in the United States.
However, the trial in the US involved eight ju judges and returned a unanimous verdict in favour of the plaintiffs.
The court said the plaintiff was sued in the complaint and was hurt by his actions that had suffered from serious emotional distress. Because he had to erase questions from former clients, agents, business associates and families living around the world, including West Orange, New Jersey.
Anas told the court that the words he complained were totally wrong. It was a product of the first defendant’s imagination, mischievously calculated by Mr Agyapong to disgrace the plaintiff.
The plaintiff further showed that the words had created disgust for him, and that he had taken him to Odium in the eyes of members of the right idea of associations in West Orange, Newark, and in New Jersey and elsewhere in the global community.
Anas asked the court to award $5 million in damages. Special damages of $10 million. $5 million in actual damage. $10 million in punitive damages.
The plaintiff also sought an order in the court to further suppress Mr Agyapon’s sue of his remarks. He then orders Asamore to permanently remove all defamatory statements published about ANA on the web around the world.
In a statement issued after the court’s ruling, Anas noted that he felt the outcome of the case was proven.
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He said: “I’m standing in front of you today. I’m standing in front of the book. Yesterday, in Essex County Superior Court in New Jersey, eight ju judges handed out a unanimous verdict that allows members of the Ghanaian Parliament to be awarded for $18 million in honor of honor and award.”
Agyapon acted maliciously and recklessly in his attack on me,” Anas added.
Unfortunately, Anas said the situation in Ghana was completely different.
Additionally, he said that justice had escaped him when he proceeded with a similar lawsuit in 2018.
He admitted that Agyapon admitted evidence that there was no evidence to support his tragic claims, but he said, “Accra High Court Judge Eric Baa not only denied me, but also unfairly portrayed me – the civil plaintiff – as a criminal.”
