PRINPAG President details next steps for Larry Dogbe after bail

The President of the Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), David Tamakloe, has cautioned that the temporary reprieve granted to The Herald Managing Editor, Larry Dogbe, will lapse unless his legal team files a substantive appeal within 10 days.

Dogbe was granted a conditional stay of execution after his lawyers successfully moved an ex parte application seeking to suspend the enforcement of a custodial sentence imposed by an Accra High Court.

Speaking on Citi FM on Friday, June 26, 2026, Tamakloe explained that the order merely provides the journalist with a limited window to regularise the appeal process.

He stressed that the bail does not overturn the contempt conviction but temporarily suspends the prison sentence to allow the defence to file the appropriate legal processes.

"The bail is to take effect for just 10 days. If, after the 10 days, he does not return to court with a proper appeal on notice, then he goes back into custody because this application was filed ex parte. He now needs to file an appeal on notice," Tamakloe said.

GJA expresses concern over conviction and sentencing of journalist Larry Dogbey

According to him, the 10-day period began immediately after the court granted the application, requiring Dogbe's legal team to file the substantive appeal and serve all relevant parties within the stipulated period.

"That appeal will then be argued by both parties, after which the court will make a final determination on the contempt appeal," he explained.

Dogbe's legal troubles began on Thursday, June 25, 2026, when an Accra High Court presided over by Justice Isaac Addo convicted him of contempt of court and ordered his immediate imprisonment through a warrant of committal issued to the Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service.

The contempt conviction arose from a series of articles published by The Herald concerning an ongoing legal dispute between Swiss commodities trading firm Petraco SA and businessman Kevin Okyere, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Springfield Exploration and Production Limited (SEP).

The court held that Dogbe had deliberately breached an interlocutory injunction that barred further publications relating to the case while proceedings were still pending before the court.