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The Accra High Court’s ruling that Assin Central Lawmaker Kennedy Agyapong did not slander him in a GHS25 million lawsuit has been criticized by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas as a travesty of justice.
After the MP aired a public documentary named “Who Watches the Watchman” to expose alleged dubious transactions involving the journalist and his work, Anas sued the legislator for claimed slander in 2018.
In its decision issued yesterday, Wednesday, March 15, 2023, the court found that Mr. Agyapong’s evidence was adequate to establish that the plaintiff had used the conclusions of his research to ask for money from people who were connected to the evidence he had collected.
The court went on to say what Anas is involved in is not investigative journalism but rather, investigative terrorism, and that Mr Agyapong was warranted to name Anas “a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist, and evil”.
In a sharp response after the ruling Anas Aremeyaw Anas issued a statement “We find the decision of the court an unfortunate travesty of justice and very inimical to the administration of justice and fairness. If for nothing at all, Mr. Agyapong made an allegation of murder against Mr. Anas. There is absolutely nothing contained in the said documentary which alludes to the commission of murder or an allegation of the commission of murder by Mr. Anas. Thus, that documentary cannot provide any justification for an allegation of murder in the wildest imagination. Yet the judge conveniently ignored this obvious fact and the fact that Mr. Anas is not a suspect for murder and is not under investigation for murder”.
Mr. Agyepong charged Anas of murder, but there is nothing in the aforementioned documentary that even refers to the conviction of murder, Anas said in a statement in response to the decision.
He claimed that the court took over the matter specifically at Mr. Agyepong’s request.
Details of Anas reply are provided below:
15 March 2023 | PRESS RELEASE
STATEMENT ON THE JUDGMENT OF JUSTICE ERIC BAAH IN THE CASE OF ANAS AREMEYAW ANAS V. KENNEDY AGYAPONG (SUIT NO; GJ 892/18)
Today, Wednesday 15 March 2023, a High Court presided over by Eric Baah J. dismissed a defamation action filed by Anas Aremeyaw Anas of Tiger Eye P.I in 2018 against Kennedy Agyapong, MP. The entire judgment was read in open court.
- The court established that Mr. Agyapong indeed defamed Anas but in a bizarre twist concluded that the so-called documentary “Who Watches the Watchman” was an absolute justification, thereby absolving Mr. Agyapong of any liability.
- We find the decision of the court an unfortunate travesty of justice and very inimical to the administration of justice and fairness. If for nothing at all, Mr. Agyapong made an allegation of murder against Mr. Anas. There is absolutely nothing contained in the said documentary which alludes to the commission of murder or an allegation of the commission of murder by Mr. Anas. Thus, that documentary cannot provide any justification for an allegation of murder in the wildest imagination. Yet the judge conveniently ignored this obvious fact and the fact that Mr. Anas is not a suspect for murder and is not under investigation for murder.
- This case traveled through the hands of three judges with Justice Baah being the latest assigned to the case at the express instance of Kennedy Agyapong. Throughout the trial, Mr. Agyapong displayed absolute disdain and disrespect of the Court and the lawyers of Anas but all attempts to cite him for contempt hit a dead end.
- We note that Mr. Agyapong attended court in the company of Mr. Kwasi Nyantakyi, who has been banned for fifteen (15) years from all football related activities.
- Tiger Eye P.I and our CEO, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, remain resolute in our fight against corruption in the Ghanaian society in service to God and country.
Ends
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
