A Superior Court of New Jersey in the United States of America has awarded investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas $18 million in his defamation suit against former member of parliament Kennedy Agyapong and Social media commentator Frederick Asamoah.
The court judgement comes after a legal battle over alleged defamatory statements made by Kennedy Agyapong during a 2021 interview.
Anas filed the lawsuit on May 17, 2022, in the Essex County Superior Court, accusing Kennedy Agyapong and Frederick Asamoah.
He accused them of a false and damaging statement made during an episode of “The Daddy Fred Show”.
Kennedy Agyapong during the show made a series of false claims, including accusing Anas of being a criminal, a thief, and responsible for the murder of investigative journalist Ahmed Suale.
Ahmed Suale was tragically shot and killed in a ride-by shooting near his home in Madina, a suburb of the capital, Accra after Kennedy Agyapong’s utterances.
It is believed that the 31-year-old Ahmed was assassinated due to the investigative work he did with the Tiger Eye PI team and Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
The court documents highlighted several specific allegations Kennedy Agyapoang made against Anas, falsely claiming that Anas had been convicted of crimes in Ghana, and accusing Anas of orchestrating Ahmed Suale’s murder. Asserting that Anas was responsible for the deaths of multiple Chinese nationals in Ghana and labelling Anas as a thief.
The investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s US victory comes after an Accra High Court in Ghana on March 15 dismissed the GH¢25 million defamation suit against Kennedy Agyapong brought by Anas.
The judge, Justice Eric Baah, asserted that Anas Aremeyaw Anas failed to prove that Ken Agyapong defamed him by airing the documentary “Who Watches the Watchman”. The Judge rather added that the documentary exposed shady deals that Anas and his associates were involved in.
The Accra High Court concluded that what Anas was engaged in was not investigative journalism but rather “investigative terrorism” and that Mr Agyapong was vindicated in calling Anas “a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist, and evil”.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Kennedy Agyapong have applied for a reduction in the amount of damages awarded.
