A U.S. court has awarded $18 million in damages to Ghanaian investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas after a jury ruled he was defamed by former Ghanaian MP Kennedy Agyapong. The case stemmed from comments Agyapong made about Anas following the release of his 2018 BBC investigation, which exposed corruption in Ghana’s football industry.
According to the BBC, Agyapong, during an interview on the Daddy Fred Show podcast in 2021, made several defamatory remarks about Anas, including calling him a “criminal” and falsely alleging that Anas was responsible for the murder of journalist Ahmed Suale, a colleague who had worked with Anas.
Although Anas had previously lost a similar case in Ghana in 2017, he pursued legal action in the U.S. District Court in New Jersey, where Agyapong owned property. The court found that the defamation took place during a podcast episode recorded while Agyapong was in New Jersey.
This victory for Anas comes after years of legal battles and highlights the global nature of defamation cases, especially when politicians make harmful statements that reach audiences across borders.
