Georgetown: Former President Donald Ramotar was Friday awarded $40M in damages by High Court Judge Navindra Singh, who determined that he was defamed by articles published in Kaieteur News.
In the High Court ruling, the Kaieteur News has been ordered to pay the former President damages in the sum of $10 million for libel published in the Kaieteur News under the bold and sensational headline: “Wake up Guyana!!!”
In addition, the publisher will also have to pay Ramotar $20 million for a second article under the headline “Wake up Guyanese brothers and sisters” and for a third article under the headline “wake up Guyanese Before Cat eat yuh Dinna”.
Accompanying publications in the newspaper, Lall was also sued and ordered to pay $10 million in damages for slander broadcast in June 2019 on Kaieteur Radio Today – a radio station operating on frequencies 99.1 FM, Georgetown and Essequibo and 99.5 FM and owned by Lall.
Interest on the substantial award is to be at a rate of 6% per annum from June 2019 to the date of judgment (March 12, 2021) and at 4% per annum thereafter until the sum is fully paid.
Apart from damages, Mr. Ramotar, who was represented by Mr. C. V. Satram, was also awarded $2.4M in court costs.
The Respondents – Kaieteur News, its publisher, Glenn Lall and former Editor-in-Chief, Adam Harris – had Mr. Nigel Hughes as their lawyer.
The successful litigation was prompted by publications during June 2019, that suggested the former President dishonestly signed and granted two Petroleum Prospecting Licences for the purpose of carrying out such operations in the Kaieteur and Canje Blocks.
“The publications unmistakably convey the impression that the oil Blocks were sold and/or disposed of and no longer the property of Guyana, when in fact the agreements signed by [Ramotar] only granted Petroleum Prospecting Licences for the purpose of carrying out prospecting operations in what are known as the Kaieteur and Canje Blocks, a fact that must have been known to [Kaieteur News] or easily discoverable by examining the contracts,” Justice Singh expressed in his written judgement
“The Court finds that the publications clearly attacked Mr. Ramotar’s character, labelling him as a dishonest person that engages in fraudulent or criminal practices and further that he engaged in such conduct when he was the President of Guyana thereby stealing from the people [citizens] of Guyana.”
Justice Singh also asserted that there was also no evidence to support that Mr. Ramotar had in any way profited financially from the granting of the licenses.
The Learned Judge noted that Mr. Ramotar, during his testimony, had clearly explained what had guided his signing of the agreement – the fact that there was a territorial dispute by Venezuela over the area and the difficulty, historically, in generating interest in oil companies in the area. The former Head of State had also told the court that the agreements were signed subsequent to applications by the companies being sanctioned by the requisite regulatory body, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission.
The judge also found that the newspapers failed to counter that argument by providing evidence to show that the former President acted in a corrupt manner when he granted the license. The daily newspaper also failed to establish, based on its publications, that Ramotar was connected to the entities that received the licenses.
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