PM Rowley wins defamation lawsuit against Moonilal

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has won a defamation lawsuit brought against him by Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal.

Justice Carol Gobin made the ruling in a written judgment delivered yesterday.

The case stems from an article in the Express newspaper on January 6, 2020, under the headline “Rowley vs Waithe … Terse Text Exchange”. Express Editor-in-Chief Omatie Lyder was also listed as a defendant.

The newspaper had printed the following alleged exchange of text messages between Dr Rowley and Fixin T&T leader Kirk Waithe:

Waithe: “Politicians serve their party best when they put their country first” – Author unknown.

Rowley: What do you know about it? What sacrifice have you ever made for this country other than to be a damn hypocrite. You know so much about Camille and $148,000 but when it comes to the outright and humongous thievery of the many UNC operatives who are and were your paymasters yuh are deathly silent. What about the $120 million Eden Gardens and the questions that Moonilal and Jearlean have to answer?

Moonilal sued Rowley, arguing those quotes were defamatory.

Rowley and his attorneys, however, argued that the statements were not made specifically about Moonilal. They also said the statements could not reasonably be understood as defamatory, especially when read individually or even as a combined text.

The court agreed, saying the two sentences, when read individually, did not contain defamatory meanings and even when juxtaposed, would not harm Moonilal’s reputation.

The court also ruled that to say a minister under whose watch Eden Gardens fell has questions to answer is not defamatory.

The court also ruled that the statements were part of a private and informal conversation rather than a formal public accusation and did not meet the threshold for defamation.

“‘Humongous thievery of UNC operatives’ standing on its own cannot be considered defamatory, even of the group of unidentified persons. In the circumstances, the omission to identify the Claimant as a member of the group may even be inconsequential,” Justice Gobin ruled.

Attorneys also argued the statements were part of a private conversation and should not be construed as formal accusations.

“The alleged statements were uttered in the course of a private conversation between Dr Rowley and Mr Waithe in the midst of what may be fairly described as a political debate which was raging in the public domain. It was done through a casual medium of WhatsApp messaging. It was an informal conversation, as close to an actual conversation as one might get without actually speaking, uttering words. No reasonable reader would look at the messages as he or she would, prepared text or script. In a loose, flowing private exchange, no reasonable reader would look for structure of responses to derive meaning. The inordinate reliance on juxtaposition is misplaced,” Gobin said in her judgment.

Justice Gobin also acknowledged there is wider latitude given to political discourse. She noted that political figures are subject to greater scrutiny and criticism, which requires a higher tolerance for robust debate.

She ruled, “Politicians would do well to recognise and accept that increasingly, the scales are tipping in favour of protecting the right to free political expression in a democracy, as Courts acknowledge the importance of political debate and its vital role in achieving transparency and accountability in the affairs of government and promoting the rule of law.”

Prime Minister Rowley subsequently posted the judgment on his Facebook page but didn’t comment directly on it.

In a response to Guardian Media on the ruling, however, Moonilal said he intends to appeal.

“We have considered the judgment and we believe that the trial judge unfortunately erred in her interpretation of the Prime Minister’s words in relation to me. I believe that the Prime Minister uttered a horrible and unfounded defamatory statement in relation to me. I intend to fully defend myself against his actions and will be taking my attorney’s advice in relation to an appeal. This isn’t over yet.”

Moonilal was represented by Larry Lalla, SC, and Vashist Seepersad. Dr Rowley was represented by Douglas Mendes, SC, Michael Quamina, SC, and Zelica Haynes-Soo Hon.

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