A High Court has thrown out a defamation suit filed by Anas Aremeyaw Anas against the maverick politician, Ken Agyapong The case was filed in 2018 after Agyapong produced his famous “Who Watches the Watchman” documentary to counter Anas’ journalist practices Anas was demanding GH¢25 million in aggravated damages from Ken Agyapong, but the court presided over by Justice Eric Baah ruled on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, that Anas’ case had no merit. He also berated Anas and his Tiger Eye PI team for practising “journalistic” terrorism and not “investigative journalism”.
An Accra High Court has dismissed a defamation case brought against outspoken lawmaker Ken Agyapong by popular investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas. Anas sued the lawmaker in 2018, making defamation claims and asked the court to cause the Assin Central Member of Parliament to pay GH¢25 million for aggravated damages.
Ken Agyapong (L) and Anas in his popular mask.
However, the court presided over by Justice Eric Baah ruled on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, that Anas and his lawyers failed to prove that Ken Agyapong truly defamed him with his documentary titled “Who Watches the Watchman”.
According to the judge, Ken Agyapong’s documentary that he produced to counter an investigative production by the journalist rather exposed shady deals that Anas and his associates were involved in. “I find the claims by the plaintiff [Anas Aremeyaw Anas] meritless and they are hereby dismissed” Justice Baah was quoted in a report on the ruling by Asaase News.
Anas and his team at Tiger Eye PI engaged in “investigative terrorism” Snippets of the ruling by Justice Baah contained in news reports monitored disclosed that the court held that Agyapong’s documentary proved that Anas used the findings of his investigative work to solicit money from individuals implicated in the evidence gathered by him.
According to the court, those who were able to pay what Anas and his team at Tiger Eye PI would demand were left off the hook and their portions removed from the documentaries that he showed. Finally, the court said the job Anas does is not “investigative journalism”. Justice Baah said Anas and his team at Tiger Eye PI were instead engaged in “investigative terrorism”.
The court concluded that the maverick politician Ken Agyapong was not wrong when he described Anas as “a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist, and evil”.
Credit: yen.com.gh
