Ayorkor Botchwey sues Larry Dogbe, The Herald for defamation

The Foreign Affairs Minister has sued the editor of The Herald newspaper, Larry Dogbe and the publisher of the newspaper, Prime Mark Company Limited, for defamation.

It is the case of Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey that a story published on the front page of the June 10, 2019 issue of The Herald newspaper with the headline “Judge Releases Minister’s Notorious Boy from Jail” defamed her.

According to her writ filed at the Accra High Court on July 16, 2019, by her counsel, Gary Nimako Marfo, the said story suggested that she had engaged in criminal activity by using her political influence “to order the release of a convicted criminal.”

She argues that the story was also published on the online portal of The Herald.

It is her contention that she had not and cannot order the release of any convicted criminal from prison since she has no such powers to do so.

“The defamatory statements published by the defendants were carefully calculated to tarnish the plaintiff’s image and hard-won reputation.

“The defamatory statements were made without any just cause and were intended to cause the plaintiff public ridicule, disaffection and to reduce her image in the eyes of right-thinking members of society,” she avers.

Reliefs

Ms Botchwey is seeking compensatory damages in the sum of ¢10 million for loss of reputation and order directed at the defendants to retract “ the defamatory publication and render unqualified apology in the same prominence as the defamatory publication.”

She also wants the court to declare the publication as defamatory and without basis and to order the defendants, their agents or assigns not to make further defamatory publication against her.