A $9.5 million defamation suit filed by Assin Ghanaian lawmaker Kennedy Agyapong against US-based Ghanaian social media commentator Kevin Taylor, has been dismissed by a US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Mr Agyapong was seeking redress from the court with regard to what his lawyers said was a series of “false and defamatory statements in a series of videos and an email correspondence published by Defendants (Kevin Taylor and Loud Silence Media) via Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms about Plaintiff.”
The suit averred that Mr Taylor and his organisation, on several occasions, branded the lawmaker as a “murderer, drug dealer, drug addict, thief, and green card fraudster”.
Even though Mr Agyapong sought seven reliefs from the court, Judge Liam O’Grady ruled that the Ghanaian politician lacked bases for demanding that amount in damages.
The court said Mr Agyapong could not prove that the said comments were defamatory.
The case has been thrown out, accordingly.
“It is undisputed that Agyapong is a public figure and Taylor’s statements were made regarding matters of public concern. The Amended Complaint does not plead any factual material that demonstrates Taylor’s disputed statements were published with actual malice”, the ruling said.
“Therefore, Agyapong has not adequately plead an actionable claim. Further, the Amended Complaint does not plausibly state a claim under the Virginia Computer Crimes Act. For these reasons, the Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint (Dkt. 13) is GRANTED and the above
captioned civil action is DISMISSED. The Plaintiff has 60 days to file a Second Amended Complaint if that filing would meet the requirements discussed in this Order,” the Court ruled.
The Assin Central MP has 60 days to appeal the ruling.
Source: Classfmonline.com
