Ghanaian Journalist’s $18M Defamation Win Slashed to $500 by U.S. Court
A U.S. court reduced the $18 million defamation award granted to Ghanaian investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas to just $500. The case stemmed from former Ghanaian MP Kennedy Agyapong’s accusations that Anas was a “criminal” and linked to the murder of fellow journalist Ahmed Suale.
Following a request by Agyapong’s legal team for the amount to be reduced, a judge in a New Jersey court ruled that $18m was “disproportionate and legally unsustainable”. Anas said he would appeal against the ruling, despite his Tiger Eye P.I. media group saying the case was never about money.
The dispute arose after Agyapong made defamatory remarks after Anas investigated football corruption. Anas initially lost his case in Ghana, where a judge dismissed his work as “investigative terrorism”, but later filed a successful lawsuit in the US, where Agyapong owns property and recorded the defamatory interview.
Anas is well known for wearing beaded face covers to disguise his identity. His reporting has also won him multiple international awards, and he has pledged to continue fighting corruption and holding wrongdoers accountable.
By allafrica
