A US court has reduced the $18 million defamation award granted to Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas to just $500.
In March, the Essex County Superior Court in New Jersey ruled that former Ghanaian MP Kennedy Agyapong and Ghanaian-American host Frederick Asamoah defamed Anas during an episode of The Daddy Fred Show, a podcast recorded and broadcast in the United States on 7 September 2021.
In the interview, Agyapong branded Anas a criminal and a thief, and falsely linked him to the 2019 murder of fellow journalist Ahmed Suale and the deaths of several Chinese nationals in Ghana. The court found the allegations unsubstantiated and harmful, noting that they damaged Anas’s reputation and risked his life.
Agyapong defended his comments as political rhetoric, but the court dismissed his argument and said that the nature of his remarks was specific and defamatory. The judge ordered Agyapong and Asamoah to pay $18 million in damages.
However, following an appeal by Agyapong’s legal team, the presiding judge revised the ruling and declared the damages award “legally unsustainable”. The judge drastically cut the payout to $500.
Anas, who has gained international recognition for his undercover reporting, said he would challenge the reduced amount. His investigative outfit, Tiger Eye P.I., reiterated that the lawsuit was not about money but about clearing his name.
Anas had initially pursued legal action in Ghana, where the Supreme Court ruled against him in a controversial judgment. Justice Eric Baah labelled Anas’ work as “investigative terrorism” and dismissed the claim. The ruling sparked criticism from the media and human rights advocates, who described it as a blow to press freedom.
Due to the international nature of the comments and Agyapong’s ties to the US, Anas filed a separate suit in New Jersey, which proceeded independently of the Ghanaian case.
The Norbert Zongo Cell for Investigative Journalism in West Africa (CENOZO) earlier hailed the US ruling as a significant step in protecting journalists and upholding press freedom in the region. The ruling now appears to be a dramatic reversal of what had been one of the largest defamation awards involving an African journalist in a foreign court.
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