[ 2016-11-25 ]

The Chronicle ordered to pay GH¢70,000 in damages
The Chronicle newspaper has been ordered by the
Accra High Court to pay GH¢70,000 in general
damages for defaming an immigration officer, Mr
Isaac Dzihlornu.

In a judgement delivered yesterday, the court,
presided over by Mrs Justice Sophia Benarsco
Essah, also ordered the newspaper to publish an
apology and a retraction of the defamatory stories
against the immigration officer on a Monday and a
Wednesday.

The apology and retraction, the court said, must
be given the same prominence as the defamation
publication received.

It further gave an order restraining the
newspaper, its cohorts, agents, servants or any
entity acting in its name from any further
defamatory publication against Mr Dzihlornu.

The court also awarded cost of GH¢ 10,000 against
the newspaper.


Serialised stories

The Chronicle, between October 7 and 11, 2014,
serialised some publications on its front page
with the headlines: “Security breach
@KIA…Immigration officer preys on women using
travel information; GIS Romeo swindles T’di
beauty…. I spent on her, and she spent on me;
and 2nd Juliet pops up on GIS Romeo affairs…
Interior summons immigration capos.”

The newspaper in the said publications stated that
Mr Dzihlornu, who was then a junior officer
stationed at the Kotoka International Airport
(KIA), had accessed the travelling details of a
female passenger called Ms Stella Cobbah from a
national security database.

The newspaper also claimed that the immigration
officer also proposed to the lady, made love
advances, won over the lady and later swindled
her.



Suit

Not happy with the publication, Mr Dzihlornu
dragged the newspaper, its publisher, General
Portfolio Limited, the Acting Editor of the paper;
Mr Emmanuel Akli, and the reporter who wrote the
story, Mr Masahudu Ankilu Kunateh, to court.

In his writ, the immigration officer said the
publication “portrayed him as a shameless
opportunist, a criminal and a person whose libido
makes him to suspend his reasoning
faculties.’’

The writ also said the publication portrayed
“him to the whole world as an unpatriotic
citizen of Ghana who has scant disregard for his
profession as an immigration officer.’’



Judgement

The court in its judgement held that the newspaper
failed to provide any evidence that Mr Dzihlornu
entered the security database to access the
details of Ms Cobbah.

It added that an investigation by the Ghana
Immigration Service (GIS) did not find the officer
culpable of any offence.

“The defendants did not provide any basis for
the allegations published.

“Again, there is also no evidence that the
plaintiff extorted money from her or swindled
her,’’ the court held.



Failed love affair

The court further averred that the newspaper
failed to do due diligence when Ms Cobbah, a
former lover of Mr Dzihlornu, told them that she
had been swindled by him (Mr Dzihlornu).

According to the court, Ms Cobbah approached the
newspaper because she was aggrieved owing to the
fact the immigration officer had failed to marry
her as promised.

The Chronicle, the court said, ought to have
further investigated the story presented by Ms
Cobbah.

“Not only did the defendants allow their views
to be distorted by the malice intended by the
lady, they also perpetuated the malice,’’ the
court said.



No justification

The newspaper in its defence had argued that the
publications were justified because they were fair
comments which were a matter of public interest.

According to The Chronicle, the immigration
officer was a public servant paid with tax
payer’s money and as such the newspaper had a
duty to expose what it described as transgressions
of Mr Dzihlornu

The court, however, held that in exercising its
rights to expose ills in society, the paper ought
to have published the right facts and not comments
that it could not substantiate.

“In order to succeed on the grounds of fair
comment, the facts upon which the story is
published must be true and there must not be any
misstatement,’’ the court stated.

Source - Graphiconline

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