A US Court has significantly reduced the 18-million-dollar defamation damages awarded against Ghanaian Politician and former Member of Parliament, Kennedy Agyapong, to just Five hundred dollars.
The Superior Court of New Jersey awarded Investigative Journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas 18 million dollars in damages in a defamation lawsuit against the former MP, and one Frederick Asamoah, a Social Media Commentator.
The judgment came after a lengthy legal battle stemming from alleged defamatory statements made by the defendants during a 2021 interview broadcast on social media.
A statement by Anas’ Tigereyepi confirmed that while the jury’s verdict stood, the trial judge has since granted a motion for remittitur, a legal request to reduce damages and has accordingly reduced the awarded amount to Five hundred dollars. The plaintiff contends that the court’s ruling upholds the finding of defamation, albeit with a significantly lower financial penalty.
In a Facebook post, Anas stated, “The victory is in the judgement and not the award.”