OROPOUCHE MP Dr Roodal Moonilal responds to a pre-action protocol letter sent to him by former attorney general John Jeremie stating that what he said about Jeremie was true and in the public interest.
Jeremie and Energy Dynamics Limited had sent pre-action letters to Dr Moonilal on February 15. This after Dr Moonilal asked whether the former People’s National Movement (PNM) attorney general Jeremie was a director of a company involved in an $84 million contract to provide Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras across Trinidad and Tobago.
Dr Moonilal was speaking at a United National Congress (UNC) Pavement Report in San Fernando on February 11.
The letter sent to Jeremie and Energy Dynamics Limited by attorney Jayanti Lutchmedial on Friday, stated, “The ability of members of the Opposition to freely comment on all aspects of the governance of T&T is constitutionally protected and vital to the sacred democracy of T&T.”
The letter admitted that the excerpt of Dr Moonilal’s speech was accurately replicated in the pre-action letters, but denied that he was responsible for posting the video on any digital media platform and noted that he does not own the rights to the said video.
The letter added, “Further, at the outset, my client denies that the words which were published meant and/or were understood to mean in their natural, ordinary and inferential meanings any defamatory meanings whatsoever – including those contained in the pre-action letters. Notwithstanding that, it is my client’s position that should the Court rule that the words are defamatory of your clients, the words were uttered on an occasion of qualified privilege and/or were fair comment on a matter of public interest and/or were substantially true.”
The February 11, letter by Jeremie and Energy Dynamics Limited made reference to statements made by Dr Moonilal streamed on the United National Congress YouTube page.
The pre-action protocol letter stated that the live feed was viewed by 4,367 people and continued to be accessible to the world at large.
The letter stated, “The defamatory statements were uttered maliciously and were designed to bring our client into odium and contempt when given their ordinary and plain meaning.”
It claimed that Dr Moonilal’s statements were “completely false on all accounts and without any merit”.
The letter called for Dr Moonilal to make and publish a public apology, admit liability and remove the statements and YouTube video within 48 hours.
