JUSTICE Dawn Gregory gave a gag order on The Editor of Guyana Times newspaper, banning him from publishing any information pertaining to Guyana Stores. She contends that the matter is in the process of adjudication and as such he should not make public, matters of this case. She asserts that the matter involving Guyana Stores is a matter for her court to decide and while that matter is before her the newspaper editor is in breach of the law by publishing aspects of that case. 

Be that as it may, the learned judge should be mindful of the fact that her assumption of the newspaper’s report is on hearsay and not factual matters already dealt with in this case, as such the editor is duty bound to report this. He is not in breach of any law that could preclude him from reporting such matters. Her actions therefore constitute an attack on free speech, an assault on fair and balanced reporting.  Furthermore, the editor has not expressed an opinion; therefore he is not guilty of anything. He was just simply expressing the facts of the case as it unfolded. Nevertheless, what misgivings the learned judge might have had were allayed with a polite apology.
Attorney General Mr Anil Nandlall aptly explained, with which I am in total agreement, that the judge’s ruling amounts to an overstepping of her bounds to which he was greeted with a derogatory letter penned by Senior Counsel Rex McKay. He, in predictable style, ran off on a tangent with that blind support for the judge without even examining the fundamental issues put forward by the Attorney General.
I read Rex’s article, a contortion of facts mixed with legal jargon and nothing else. Rex’s ramblings lacked substance; he was just making objections without any real cause.
Speaking about facts and raising one’s voice in denunciation, I would like to ask the senior counsel where was his voice when Nigel Hughes flagrantly flaunted the law in the case of the two accused in the Lusignan Massacre? Where was Rex McKay? Have himself and other legal personalities gone senile on that matter? So far I’ve only seen one article written by another Senior Counsel, Brynor Pollard, staunchly supporting Hughes in his actions. He stood in strong defence of Hughes in that matter. He contends that a counsel has no reason to reveal his/her association with a standing juror. Utter trash! And Pollard knows this fully well. But it goes to show the gross hypocrisy that exists in legal circles in Guyana today and make no mistake, Rex McKay is part of this.  Far more important is the Nigel Hughes matter and the so-called legal minds are glossing over it as if nothing ever happened; no breach of the law, hence no punishment for him? These are the matters that should be engaging their attention and not the flimsy peripheral issues that are innocuous at best and does not subvert justice.

NEIL ADAMS