Following a request for remittitur submitted by Agyapong’s legal team, a U.S. federal judge lowered the $18 million defamation award that a jury originally gave against former Member of Parliament for Assin Central Kennedy Ohene Agyapong to just $500.
A jury previously found Kennedy Agyapong guilty of wilfully defaming Anas Aremyaw Anas, the award-winning investigative journalist who launched the defamation case. Many viewed Anas’s initial $18 million award as a major legal win.
But the amount was re-examined by the court when Agyapong’s legal team challenged the award’s magnitude. Although the judge maintained the jury’s conclusion that Kennedy Agyapong had defamed Anas, he deemed the monetary award to be “excessive” and lowered the damages to $500.
In response to the court’s ruling, Anas said that justice and the truth were more important in this case than money.
According to Anas, “the judgment, not the award, is our victory.”
As I have said before, it is crucial to emphasise that this battle has been for justice and truth rather than money.
He added that no single accusation Kennedy Agyapong made against him had been validated in court.
He continued, “I am pleased that, after Kennedy Agyapong had a full chance to substantiate, not a single accusation was proven against me in court.”
Anas reaffirmed his resolve to combat corruption and stated that he would appeal the decision, even if the damages had been drastically cut.
“I will not give up on my unrelenting battle against corruption, and in the process, I will continue to expose, humiliate, and imprison
“It,” he said.
