US court reduces Anas’ $18 million defamation win against Ken Agyapong to $500

A United States court has slashed the $18 million defamation damages awarded to ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas against former Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong to $500.

The reduction follows an appeal filed by Mr Agyapong after a jury initially awarded the hefty sum in Anas’ favour.

In a statement posted on social media and dated May 11, Anas welcomed the development, saying the most important thing is that the court upheld the substance of the defamation ruling.

According to him, the judge’s decision still affirms that the politician’s words were defamatory.

“Following the award, Kennedy Agyapong filed a motion for remittitur, asking the judge to reduce the amount awarded against him. Thus, inherent in his motion, Kennedy Agyapong admitted to having maliciously defamed me.

“Today, the trial judge granted Kennedy Agyapong’s motion for remittitur and reduced the initial award to $500. This means that, while the judge held that Kennedy Agyapong had defamed me, in his reasoning, the award against Kennedy Agyapong by the jury was excessive,” he noted.

The defamation case stems from comments made by Agyapong during an interview on the Daddy Fred Show, hosted by Ghanaian-American Frederick Asamoah, which aired on September 7, 2021.

During the interview, the former lawmaker accused Anas of being a “criminal” and a “thief,” and went as far as linking him to the murder of investigative journalist Ahmed Suale and the deaths of some Chinese nationals in Ghana.

Anas argued that the unproven allegations harmed his reputation and endangered his life due to his kind of work as an undercover journalist.