Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan has sued Maurice Ampaw over public comments the latter is reported to have made which indicts the footballer of culpability and criminality over the disappearance of hip-life musician Castro.
Asamoah Gyan, in a writ sighted by News-One, is seeking a perpetual injunction to restrain the lawyer from repeating such comments and also demanding damages to the tune of ?5 million from the outspoken legal practitioner.
The writ, filed by lawyer Kissi Agyabeng, said Maurice Ampaw in a series of interviews with several media houses across Ghana had insisted consistently that he knew where to find the missing musician and called for the arrest of Asamoah Gyan, as though the Black Stars captain had something to hide in the missing Castro saga.
It said Maurice Ampaw had also alleged that there were attempts by close associates of Asamoah Gyan to bribe Castro's mother with an amount of ?l0, 000 so she would stop searching for her missing son.
According to the writ, attempts were also made to gag media discussions on the running story of the missing musician.
The writ mentioned Kumasi-based radio station Metro 94.1 Fm, Accra- based Radio XYZ 93.1 Fm, Starr 103.5 Fm, Adorn 106.3 Fm, Sky Power 93.5 Fm and Citi 97.3 Fm as the radio stations on which Maurice Ampaw made the supposed libellous statements.
The writ said relevant portions of recordings of the said interÂviews would be made available to the court to be played at the trial.
It stated for instance that on September 10, 2014, Maurice Ampaw in an interview with Starr 103.5 Fm made the following remarks:
"I think I have done a little bit of investigation. I was following the police to do further investigations and intelligent works on the disappearance of Castro but I think the police did not actually take my advice seriously. I personally decided to go down there to find out a lot about what actually happened and I've learnt a lot of information and I think I have gathered a lot that by the end of the month I've decided to let it go for people to know that Castro is not dead; but Jane, we might not find".
On July 17, 2014, Maurice Ampaw is also reported to have told Metro 94.1 Fm:
"if Ghana were a serious nation, we wouldn't have allowed marine police to go and have fun on the sea, with the intention of searching for Castro's body. Then Asamoah Gyan also picked up a boat' saying he is going to search for Castro. This will not happen in a serious country. For Christ's sake, Castro is a celebrity, a star. Anybody who was involved should be arrested to enable the person write his statement. We are in a country where people do not know their rights and that's why they are walking freely. I am therefore calling for the arrest of Asamoah Gyan and anybody who went with them to Ada."
Castro and Jane were reported missing on July 6 while cruising on the Volta Lake at Ada after they had gone there as part of an entourage Asamoah Gyan was making merry and holidaying with.