Court orders Asamoah Gyan to pay ₵1m in damages to journalist
An Accra High Court has ordered retired footballer, Asamoah Gyan to pay GH₵1 million in damages to Ghanaian journalist, Osarfo Anthony.
This comes after the Court found Mr. Gyan guilty of malicious prosecution of the journalist.
In his suit against the journalist and three others namely Chris Handler, Sarah Kwablah and Ekow Micah, Mr. Gyan had accused Osarfo Anthony of extorting money from himself and his manager Samuel Anim Addo in 2015.
Read also: Asamoah Gyan sex video: Journalist grabbed for extortion
But after almost four years of prosecution, Osarfo was acquitted and discharged on March 20, 2019.
Subsequently, the journalist sued the former black stars captain and his manager for malicious prosecution and demanded GH₵1 million in damages.
Ruling on the case on Friday, December 8, the Court presided over by Justice Ernest Owusu Dapaa, found Mr. Gyan and his manager, Samuel Anim Addo, culpable for falsely accusing the plaintiff of extortion and unlawful arrest.
Justice Dapaa, a Court of Appeal justice was sitting with additional responsibility as a High Court judge.
According to reports, the Accra High Court also indicated that Gyan sued the four persons and had them arrested not because of the publication, but to protect his image and to finalise a move to a football club in China at the time.
Mr. Gyan was slapped with a total sum of GH¢1,071,000 to be paid to Anthony Osarfo.
The breakdown is GH¢900,000 in damages to the plaintiff.
The court, additionally, awarded the plaintiff GH¢111,000 for 111 months, because the court agreed with Anthony Osarfo that he lost his job, which was paying him GH¢1,000 a month at the time.
A cost of GH¢60,000 was also awarded against Asamoah Gyan and his manager.
This brought the total sum to GH¢1,071,000 against the defendants (Asamoah Gyan and Samuel Anim Addo).
Source: Ghana News
