Former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), David Asante-Apeatu, has dragged a broadcaster with Net 2 Television, Justice Annan, to court for making grave defamatory comments against him.
In a suit filed at an Accra High Court on Friday, July 2, 2021, and sighted by Prime News, the former police chief through his lawyer, Samuel Appiah Darko, said the broadcaster made spurious and grave allegations that have damaged his reputation in the eyes of right-thinking members of the public.
In his Statement of Claim, the former IGP said around June 16 this year, during the course of a live TV and online programme entitled The Seat on Net 2 Television - a TV station based in Accra, Justice Annan published defamatory words that, among other things, means that the former police chief is neck-deep in international criminal activities.
"In their natural and ordinary meaning, the words published by the defendant of the plaintiff…were understood to mean that:
"i. The plaintiff was and is a fence for notorious criminals both in Ghana and Nigeria.
"ii. The plaintiff harbours criminals.
"iii. The plaintiff is a criminal who has been working in cahoots with hardened international criminals to unleash terror on Ghanaians.
"iv. The plaintiff is/was on the payroll of top criminals in Ghana and as such slept on his duty as IGP and he refused/ neglected to cause the arrest and prosecution of the criminals," the former IGP said in his Statement of Claim.
The former IGP has denied the claims as utterly false.
According to him, the spurious claims are the products of the broadcaster's imagination and were mischievously calculated by him to disparage the former IGP and to create disaffection for him in the eyes of right-thinking members of the public both in Ghana and the global community.
"In consequence, the plaintiff's reputation has been egregiously damaged and he has suffered debilitating distress and embarrassment. Further, he has been inundated with numerous calls from professional associates, journalists, social relations and friends and outright strangers, and he has had to answer very mortifying questions," the suit explained.
He wants the court, among other things, to grant general damages for libel contained in Justice Annan's publication against him.
READ THE FULL SUIT AND HOW THE RESTITUTION THE IGP IS PRAYING THE COURT TO GRANT