Journalist and Publisher of The Herald newspaper, Larry Dogbey, has been sentenced to seven days’ imprisonment by an Accra High Court after being found guilty of contempt.
The ruling was delivered on Thursday, June 25, 2026, by Justice Isaac Addo.
Mr. Dogbey subsequently confirmed the conviction in a social media post and has reportedly criticised the court’s decision and defended The Herald’s reporting on a dispute involving businessman Kevin Okyere and multinational commodities trading firm Petraco SA.
According to him, the newspaper merely reported on a petition submitted by Petraco SA to a number of state institutions, including the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), and the Attorney-General’s Department.
“Justice Isaac Addo of an Accra High Court has just convicted me and sentenced me to seven days’ imprisonment in the case involving Kevin Okyere and Petraco SA. The Herald Newspaper reported only on a petition filed by the multinational company with CID, EOCO, GIS, Attorney General etc. Ghana deserves better. Journalism is not a crime,” he wrote.
The contempt proceedings is on the back of a series of articles published by The Herald regarding the petition filed by Petraco SA against Kevin Okyere, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Springfield Exploration and Production Limited (SEP).
The dispute reportedly led to Mr. Okyere’s arrest and detention in Dubai.
While the court has delivered its ruling, details of the specific actions that constituted the contempt finding were not immediately available.
Mr. Dogbey is expected to serve the seven-day custodial sentence imposed by the court.