The Superior Court of New Jersey has granted investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas $18 million in damages in a defamation case against social media commentator Frederick Asamoah and former Member of Parliament Kennedy Agyapong.
Following a protracted legal battle, the defendants were found to have made defamatory remarks in a 2021 social media interview broadcast.
During an episode of “The Daddy Fred Show,” a well-known internet program aimed at Ghanaian viewers in the United States, Kennedy Agyapong and Frederick Asamoah were accused of making false and disparaging remarks against Anas.
The case was filed in the Essex County Superior Court on May 17, 2022.
With multiple accusations of defamation against Anas, the interview, which was broadcast live on Facebook and other platforms, had over 29,000 views.
Anas, a well-known investigative journalist who has exposed corruption and violations of human rights, contended that the defendants’ remarks were part of a deliberate attempt to damage his reputation and undermine his work.
Among the defamatory statements were claims that Anas was a thief, a criminal, and the man behind the death of Ahmed Suale, an undercover journalist who collaborated with Anas on the controversial documentary “Number 12.”
The late Suale was tragically murdered in January 2019, and no one has been convicted for the crime to date.
The court document claimed that Kennedy Agyapong, during the interview, made several false statements, including:
- Claiming that Anas was a criminal who had been convicted of crimes in Ghana.
- Alleging that Anas was behind the murder of Ahmed Suale.
- Accusing Anas of being responsible for the deaths of multiple Chinese nationals in Ghana.
- Stating that Anas was a thief.
The court granted Anas $18 million in damages in total.
In the meantime, Kennedy Agyapong’s lawyers have requested remittitur, or a decrease in the amount of damages granted. This occurred days after the GH¢25 million defamation lawsuit filed by Anas against Kennedy Agyapong was dismissed by the Ghanaian Accra High Court on March 15.
According to Justice Eric Baah, Anas Aremeyaw Anas was unable to demonstrate that Ken Agyapong had defamed him by showing the documentary “Who Watches the Watchman,” but rather that Anas and his friends were involved in dubious transactions.
The court concluded that what Anas is engaged in is not investigative journalism but rather “investigative terrorism” and that Mr Agyapong was justified in calling Anas “a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist, and evil”.