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Three motions for judgment in default of defence filed by the Lighthouse Chapel International (LCI) against Manasseh Azure Awuni, investigative journalist and three others have been withdrawn.

LCI had filed three motions for judgment in default of defence against the investigative journalist, Edwin Appiah, an Editor, Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and MFWA in connection with 3 separate defamation suits.

The LCI said it had now received the defences of the defendants dated January 6, 2022 hence the withdrawal of the motion for default judgment.

Counsel for LCI submitted that he had earlier conducted a search at the registry of the court on January 10, 2022 and result of the search indicated that the defendants had not filed their defence.

The court presided over by Mr Justice Joseph Adu-Owusu Agyemang held that it was neither the fault of the plaintiff nor the defendants that the search results indicated that defendants had not filed their defence on January 10, 2022.

The court therefore "struck out as withdrawn" the motion on notice for judgment in default of defence and awarded no cost.

Meanwhile, the court has ordered counsel for LCI to consolidate the three cases as the parties were the same.

In a related matter, the LCI has cited all four defendants for contempt of court in respect of three publications which are subject of defamation suits and three other articles written by the defendants.

The motion for contempt is urging the court to commit the respondents to prison for what the application describes as "repeated and defiant republication" of the said article despite being cautioned by the plaintiff that the articles were in contempt of court.

The motion will be heard on Monday, January 31, this year by the High Court.