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.
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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.