The Accra High Court has jailed Herald newspaper Managing Editor Larry Dogbe for seven days after finding him guilty of contempt of court in connection with publications made despite an existing court injunction.
Justice Isaac Addo, who presided over the case, reportedly ruled that Dogbe had defied an order barring further publications concerning businessman Kevin Okyere while a defamation case remained before the court. The custodial sentence was handed down after the court concluded that the journalist knowingly acted in breach of its directive.
According to the ruling, the continued publications during the subsistence of the injunction amounted to a deliberate disregard for the authority of the court. Justice Addo held that the conduct undermined the administration of justice and brought the court into disrepute.
The contempt proceedings were initiated by Mr Okyere, the Chief Executive Officer of Springfield Group, an integrated energy company. The application arose from an earlier defamation suit he filed against Larry Dogbe, the publishers of The Herald and other defendants.
Following the filing of the defamation case, the court granted an injunction restraining the defendants from publishing any further defamatory material about Mr Okyere until the substantive case had been determined.
In his contempt application, Mr Okyere argued that despite the injunction having been properly served and brought to the attention of Mr Dogbe and the other defendants, The Herald continued to publish material he considered defamatory.
He maintained in an affidavit supporting the application that the newspaper’s actions amounted to a blatant violation of the court’s orders.
“The actions of the Respondent is calculated to bring the Court to disrepute by showing to the entire world that the order(s) of the Court may be disregarded especially when the party is aware of the order having participated in the proceedings, and by so doing in sending a message publicly that the Respondent herein is not subject to the processes of the Court and has no regard to judicial process,” he stated.
Dogbe, however, urged the court to dismiss the application, insisting that he was unaware of the injunction at the time the disputed publications were made.
He also challenged the admissibility of portions of the documentary evidence submitted by Mr Okyere in support of the contempt proceedings.
After considering the arguments from both sides, the court upheld the contempt application, convicted Dogbe and sentenced him to seven days in prison.
