The Editor of The Herald newspaper, Larry Dogbey, has been convicted by the Accra High Court and sentenced to seven days’ imprisonment.
The sentence relates to a publication by the newspaper involving businessman Kevin Okyere and Petraco SA.
Mr. Dogbey confirmed the development in a Facebook post on Thursday, stating that the ruling was delivered by Justice Isaac Addo.
According to him, The Herald only reported on a petition allegedly filed by the multinational company to several state institutions, including the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), and the Attorney-General’s Department.
“Justice Isaac Addo of the Accra High Court has just convicted me and sentenced me to seven days’ imprisonment in the case involving Kevin Okyere and Petraco SA. The Herald newspaper reported only on a petition filed by the multinational company with CID, EOCO, GIPC, the Attorney-General, among others. Ghana deserves better. Journalism is not a crime,” he wrote.
Contempt application
The contempt application filed by Mr Okyere, the CEO of Springfield Group, an integrated energy company, stems from a defamation suit the businessman filed against the publishers of the Herald newspaper, Larry Dogbe and others.
After the defamation suit, the businessman applied for an injunction order, which was granted by the court restraining the continued publication of defamatory statement against Mr Okyere by the defendants pending the determination of the substantive suit.
In the ruling, the court held that the publications by Larry Dogbe despite the pending injunction order constituted disobedience of the orders of the court, which brought the court into disrepute and an affront to the administration of justice.
Mr Okeyre contended in his application for contempt that despite the clear orders or the court regarding the injunction which was lawfully brought to the attention of Mr Dobge and others, The Herald continued to publish defamatory statements against him.
He deposed in his affidavit in support of the contempt application that the continued publication by The Herald constituted blatant disregard for the orders of the court.
“The actions of the Respondent is calculated to bring the Court to disrepute by showing to the entire world that the order(s) of the Court may be disregarded especially when the party is aware of the order having participated in the proceedings, and by so doing in sending a message publicly that the Respondent herein is not subject to the processes of the Court and has no regard to judicial process,” he averred.
However, in its ruling, the court found merit on the application for contempt, convicted the journalist and consequently imposed custodial sentence on him.
In his response, Mr. Dogbe opposed the application, arguing that he was not aware of the injunction order at the time the publications were made.
He further challenged the admissibility of some of the documentary evidence filed by Mr Okyere.
