JUDGMENT, in terms of costs, was granted against Alliance For Change (AFC) Member of Parliament (MP), Dr. Veerasammy Ramaya, for failing to appear at the New Amsterdam High Court yesterday to answer a libel lawsuit.The lawsuit, filed in 2012 by People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Executive Secretary, Zulfikar Mustapha, charges that Ramaya made “libelous” claims regarding Mustapha, in November 2011 – during the height on the elections campaign – on his televised programme ‘Issues of the People’, which airs on Channel 8, a local station that transmits from Region Six (East Berbice/ Corentyne).

Both Ramaya and the proprietor of Channel 8, Tony Rambarran, were penalised by Judge Nareshwar Harnanan, who ordered that the two pay a fine of $60,000.

The two men, as well as their legal representatives, including AFC leader, Khemraj Ramjattan, and Vice-Chair, Moses Nagamootoo, were a no-show for the second hearing of the lawsuit, an act considered to be gross disrespect for the judiciary, since no explanations were offered to the court.

Consequently, given that there has been no resolution of the three-year-old matter, and neither defence nor proof offered to justify the allegations made against Mustapha, the lawsuit is expected to be resolved via trial, which is set to commence in February.
The first hearing of the matter was held on January 12, 2015.