According to Kwasi Kwarteng, spokesperson for former Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong, the $500 defamation ruling against his boss is not a diminution of an already finalised $18m judgment, as widely reported.
Speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Monday, May 12, Kwarteng noted that the $500 award was the outcome of a legal motion submitted by Agyapong’s legal team, not a reduction of a formal judgement already issued by the court.
“The $500 reward we are experiencing today does neither increase or decrease any $18m judgment. There was no $18 million judgement to begin with, so what we’re witnessing isn’t a slash or reduction of any prior judgment,” he explained.
“The $500 award we are seeing is the outcome of a motion filed by Hon. Kennedy Agyapong’s lawyer to shift the jury award. So, yes, there was a jury award, but it had not yet been adopted by the court, so it cannot be considered a court judgement.
“But, generously, they submitted a request to move the judgement. You may simply refer to it as a review. “This is not a reduction of a previous judgement,” Kwarteng emphasised.
His comments come after the Superior Court of Essex County, New Jersey, amended the damages in a defamation case brought by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas. The lawsuit, filed on May 17, 2022, came from Agyapong’s remarks on The Daddy Fred Show, in which he accused Anas of being a criminal and implicated him in the murder of journalist Ahmed Suale.
A US jury recently held Agyapong responsible for defamation and awarded Anas $18 million in damages.
However, Agyapong’s legal team filed a move for remittitur, saying that the award was excessive. The trial judge affirmed the defamation verdict but reduced the award to $500, citing the initial figure as excessively high.
Mr. Kwarteng’s words seek to address public misconceptions by emphasising that no final $18m judgement was ever issued until the judge ruled on the motion.
Meanwhile, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, while disappointed by the decreased compensation, emphasised that his goal was never financial gain, but rather to defend his image.