Victory lies in judgement, not money — Anas on damages cut in defamation case against Ken Agyapong

Ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has reacted to the reduction of damages awarded in his defamation victory against former Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong, from $18 million to $500.

In a statement posted on social media and dated May 11, Anas welcomed the development, stating that the most important outcome 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.

“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.

“Many avenues of redemption accrue to me. But it is important to state, as I previously did, that this fight has not been about the money, but rather a fight for truth and justice,” the journalist added.

This comes after Kennedy Agyapong filed a motion for remittitur, asking the judge to reduce the amount awarded against him by a jury.

Inherent in his motion filed at the Essex County Superior Court, Kennedy Agyapong reportedly admitted to having maliciously defamed Anas.

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.