A private legal practitioner Mr Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo has said that judgment delivered by the court on the defamation case between investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and Member of Parliament for Assin Central Kennedy Agyapong actually calls Anas a criminal.
He said the judgment describes the Modus Operandi of Anas as illegal.
Speaking on News 360 on TV3 Thursday, March 16, he said “I think people should take their time and read this particular judgment, it is a ringing indictment on the methodology of Anas, it actually calls him a criminal simplicita, it is a very damning verdict on his methodology, it actually describes the methodology as illegal. if your standards are what the laws call illegal work then I think he should revise his note because the law as it is today the methodology adopted by Mr Anas is illegal.”
Another private legal practitioner Captain (rtd) Nkrabeah Effah Darteh also criticized Tiger Eye PI firm, belonging to Anas Aremeyaw Anas, for accusing Mr Kennedy Agyapong of manipulating the judge in the defamation case which has just been thrown out.
Tiger Eye PI said that the case traveled through the hands of three judges.
The firm alleged that Justice Eric Baah being the latest was 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,” a statement issued by the firm said.
The Accra High Court on Wednesday, March 15 dismissed the GH¢25 million defamation suit against Kennedy Ohene Agyapong brought by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
The judge, Justice Eric Baah, held that Anas Aremeyaw Anas failed to prove that Ken Agyapong defamed him by airing the documentary – “Who watches the watchman” – but rather, the documentary exposed shady deals that Anas and his associates were involved in.
This was after Anas, in 2018, sued the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for allegedly defaming him.
Anas prayed to the court to award GH¢25 million against Mr Agyapong to compensate him for the defamatory material published against him by the MP.
The court concluded that what Anas is engaged in is not investigative journalism but rather “investigative terrorism” and that Agyapong was justified to call Anas “a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist, and evil”.
“I find the claims by the plaintiff [Anas Aremeyaw Anas) meritless and they are hereby dismissed,” Justice Baah ruled.
In a statement reacting to the ruling, Tiger Eye PI said: “We find the court decision an unfortunate travesty of justice and very inimical to the administration of justice and fairness. If for nothing at all made an allegation of murder against Anas.”
It added: “Tiger Eye PI and our CEO Anas Aremeyaw remain resolute in our fight against corruption in the Ghanaian society.”
Speaking on the Ghana Tonight Show on TV3 Wednesday, March 15, Mr Effah Darteh said “I am surprised that Tiger Eye is talking like this because when it comes to placement of cases before the court there is nobody who has control over it, it is done by the Office of the Chief Justice and the Judicial Secretary.
“And so it is very unfair and unrealistic for Tiger Eye PI to accuse Kennedy Agyapong as having manipulated the system in such a way as to get a judge who will have a sympathetic hearing for he Kennedy Agyapong to the disadvantage of Tiger Eye.”
He added “Tiger Eye, as a team of lawyers, should know that if a judge makes any ruling [or] any decision and you are not comfortable with it, you have the right to appeal to the Court of Appeal or a higher bench.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana