Ghana judges want journalist’s award withdrawal

Two justices of the Ghana High Court re seeking an order to withdraw the “Overall Best Journalist of the Year 2015 Award” conferred on an undercover journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

Justices Paul Dery and Mustapha Habib Logoh, implicated in the bribery scandal that rocked the Ghanaian judiciary last year, among other things, asked the court to also hold the Ghana Journalist Association in contempt for conferring the award on Anas, based on his expose on the so-called judicial bribery and corruption.

According to them, due to the pendency of two separate suits at the Supreme Court and High Court challenging the capacity of Tiger Eye PI, the investigative platform Anas conducted the inquiry, the conduct of the Ghana Journalist Association amounted to contempt and should be punished accordingly.

The suit filed by their lawyer, Nil Kpakpo Samoa Addo, named as respondents, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, The president of the Ghana Journalist Association, Mr. Roland Monney and six other executive members of the GJA.

The GJA at its 21st Awards ceremony on August27, 2016 conferred the award on the investigative journalist following his epic work on bribery and corruption in judiciary.

The bribery saga which implicated 32 judges, including the two plaintiffs, culminated in the dismissal of 20 judges. Others are still being investigated. Other judicial officials are also under investigation.

The two judges in the writ also want the court to declare that the audio-visual recordings and transcripts which showed the judges accepting bribes were fraudulently and unlawfully obtained by Anas.

They are also asking for punitive damages against Anas for invading their privacy.