– after losing defamation case against former GECOM deputy CEO

JUSTICE Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, on Tuesday, awarded over $4M to former Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Vishnu Persaud, in a lawsuit filed against GECOM Commissioner, Vincent Alexander, then Guyana Chronicle Chief Editor, Nigel Williams, and the Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL) for the defamation of his character.

Persaud took GNNL– the printers of the Guyana Chronicle– and its former Editor-in-Chief, Nigel Williams, to the High Court for an article which was carried in the June 14, 2018 edition of the newspaper with the front-page headline, “Poor past … Alexander says Vishnu Persaud’s past performance sank him — Myers emerged the more qualified for the top GECOM post.”

On page 4 of the said newspaper, Williams published or caused to be published a photo of Persaud along with the headline above and the following words:
“Former Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Vishnu Persaud was rejected from rehiring on the grounds of his past performance, his alleged history of faking his qualifications to the commission… ‘He (Justice Patterson) objected to Vishnu based on past performance, based on the other candidate having better qualifications and based on the history of misrepresentation of qualifications to the commission’, longstanding commissioner, Vincent Alexander told the Guyana Chronicle.”

These words were published in the online version of the Chronicle Newspaper and republished by www.theworldnews.net/gy-news/poorpast, an online newspaper which quoted the Guyana Chronicle as a ‘trusted source’ in relation to this article.

Additionally, the said newspaper along with its then editor-in-chief, on June 20, 2018, on page 8 of the print version of the Chronicle Newspaper and the online version published or caused to be published an article entitled ‘I Challenge Jagdeo to a Face off on the Facts”, which contained the following words:

“On that matter, I stand by my word and hereby restate emphatically that Vishnu Persaud’s candidacy was opposed by me on the grounds that the other candidate is superior, in addition to the fact that Vishnu was appointed as the PRO of GECOM when he was not qualified for the job. He was elevated to the DCEO on the pretence of being the holder of a first degree, here again, he was appointed to a position for which he was not qualified.”

Persaud, in his court documents, had contended that the words published in First Article, Comment and Second Article (the Statements) were defamatory.
Moreover, the natural and ordinary meaning of the words in the First Article was that Persaud faked his qualification to GECOM; and in the Comment and Second Article was that the Claimant was elevated to DCEO on the pretense of being the holder of a first degree.

Persaud, the claimant, also contended that the statements were formulated based on assertions of fact that he misrepresented or faked his qualifications while applying for the DCEO position and clearly referred to him and were published both locally and abroad by the Chronicle Newspaper.

“The Claimant contended that the statements were defamatory because his esteem was lowered by the average Guyanese who read them. He claimed that the words imputed that he was corrupt, dishonest and put his professional reputation in disrepute. He claimed that the words published affected his social and personal relationships negatively and caused irreparable damage to his professional reputation and employability prospects,” the court document said.

Justice Sewnarine-Beharry, in her ruling, said that the publication of the defamatory statements tarnished the Claimant’s professional and personal reputation which he garnered over the years through educational pursuits and work experience at GECOM and would have affected his ability to secure future employment opportunities.
Additionally, the judge stressed that the publications were made locally and on the World Wide Web. The extent of the damage was compounded by the fact that the publications were made by Alexander, who was a long standing GECOM Commissioner and a significant figure in civil society and who, the average Guyanese, would tend to trust and believe, more so because he was well placed to know the facts.

Having considered the aggravating and mitigating factors above, the judge ordered Alexander to pay damages in the sum of $2.5M towards Persaud. Alexander was also ordered to pay costs to Persaud in the sum $150,000 on or before September 30, 2020.

Meanwhile, GNNL and Williams were ordered to pay damages in the sum of $1.5M jointly and severally. They are also ordered to pay Persaud $150,000 jointly and severally on or before September 30, 2020.

Persaud was represented by attorney-at-law, Nicholas Caryll, with Devindra Kissoon while Alexander was represented by Attorney Roysdale Forde. GNNL and Williams were represented by Attorney, Asa Shepherd Stewart.