Ghanian journalist wins defamation lawsuit against MP

An investigative journalist who won an $18m defamation case against a Ghanaian MP says what is more rewarding is the message his victory sends, reports BBC News. Anas Aremeyaw Anas began legal action against Kennedy Agyapong after the MP labelled him a ‘criminal’ following his investigation into football corruption in Ghana and elsewhere. He initially brought the case in Ghana, and lost, but then took it to the US, where Agyapong owns property, and won. ‘The bigger impact for me is not the money but the fact that young journalists are encouraged (to hold the powerful to account) no matter how big you are (as) a politician’, said Anas. The court heard that Agyapong, among other accusations made on a podcast, had called the reporter a ‘criminal’ and alleged he was behind the murder of fellow journalist Ahmed Suale. Anas said he was still grieving Suale and that, despite the recent arrest of one suspect, he believes there are other culprits still at large.

Anas has been scathing in his criticism of Ghana's legal system, telling BBC News he believes ‘many’ members of the judiciary ‘are doing nothing but tilting the scale of justice in favour of the wrong one’. He decided to bring his case against the MP to the US state of New Jersey, where the politician was at the time he was interviewed for the Daddy Fred Show podcast, according to court papers filed by Anas' lawyers. The journalist's victory saw him awarded $18m in damages as the result of a unanimous decision by an eight-member jury in Essex County Superior Court in New Jersey, finding Agyapong liable for defamation. The figure included $8m in punitive damages. Anas says that, even though his case was won in the US, it should serve as a wake-up call to the rich and powerful that African journalists can and will hold them to account.

Full BBC News report