Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has served notice of appealing a judgement against him in a defamatory case.
He had fife a defamation case against Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong.
He said his lawyers have carefully studied the judgment and concluded that the judge moved into the arena of criminal prosecution hence the need to appeal the case.
He further reminded Kennedy Agyapong that the defamation suit filed against him in the United State of America is ongoing.
Anas said this after rejecting the High Court ruling on the case he filed against Mr Agyapong.
“My team and I and the lawyers have carefully studied the judgment delivered by the court and we are unanimous that the judge made an overreach and descended into the arena and made criminal pronouncements about me as If I was standing a criminal trial.
“He also justified the MP accusing me of the murder of JB Danquah, murder of 20 Chinese nationals. We are filing an appeal because there was no evidence provided,” Anas said in a video recording responding to the judgment.
He added “…last year we also filed another defamation case against the MP in the United States where he made similar defamatory statements against me. The case is ongoing”.
This comes after an Accra High Court on Wednesday, March 15 dismissed the GH¢25 million defamation suit against Kennedy Ohene Agyapong brought by Anas.
The judge, Justice Eric Baah, held that 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) lawmaker 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.
By Vincent Kubi