Jagdeo/Kissoon libel suit ....Freddie Kissoon called to the witness box

Jagdeo/Kissoon libel suit ….Freddie Kissoon called to the witness box

Oct 30, 2012 News

By Latoya Giles

Taking the witness stand yesterday in the Bharrat Jadgeo libel suit was Kaieteur News Columnist and former lecturer at the University of Guyana, Fredrick Kissoon. Jagdeo wants $10 million from outspoken columnist Freddie Kissoon, the newspaper’s Publisher Glenn Lall, and editor in chief Adam Harris.
The subject of the libel case is a column written by Kissoon. It charged that the former President exercised ideological racism in performing his function as President.
Kissoon told the court yesterday that he’s an unemployed academic. According to the witness he was employed up until January 18, 2012, at the University of Guyana. Kissoon said that he was dismissed from his position as a lecturer within the Social Sciences faculty, a position he held for 26 years.
Kissoon told the court that he’s trained in the areas of History, International Relations and Philosophy.
Kissoon said that he graduated from the University of Guyana in 1978 after completing a degree in History. After that, Kissoon said he competed for a “Macmaster’ scholarship to read for International Relations. The witness said after he had completed that, he went for his doctorate when he received a Toronto scholarship.
He said that he served three years there before he answered a call by the Grenada Government to act as an advisor for Prime Minister Maurice Bishop. It was in 1986, that Kissoon took up an appointment with the University of Guyana.
The witness was asked about a thesis research he had done. According to Kissoon, he had done a thesis research titled “Ethnic Power and Ideological Racism- Comparing Presidents in Guyana”. He was asked by Hughes if he had presented that document.
According to the defendant he presented it at the Guyana History Institute in June 2010. Hughes made an application for the document to be tendered into evidence. The witness was asked why he did the research thesis.
According to Kissoon his academic interest is in the ethnic problematic that runs through the history of Guyana, therefore in his training it would have been ideal to investigate the racial dilemma.
Kissoon said that the research is one of countless academic interests he had in studying the history of Guyana. He said that with particular reference to the research in question, it was driven by the manifestation of state discrimination in the employment policies.
Kissoon further told the court that he has seen the features of racial state discrimination, and it has reached a level that he has never seen before. For him, Kissoon said that it was an area of life that needed to be investigated and thus he did it and presented the thesis research.
The witness was asked about the research methodology he used with the research. According to the witness, it took the form of examination of important documents, content analysis of policy markers’ speeches, interviews with relevant actors and the research of historical documents.
He was asked by Hughes if he made reference to the sources he used. The witness said he did make reference and they were all in the acknowledgments.
The witness was then asked if he had authored an article titled “King Kong sent his goons to disrupt the conference” which was published in the Kaieteur newspaper. Kissoon admitted that he wrote the article and that he’s a columnist at the newspaper.
He was asked whether he had examined the concept of ideology and he answered in the affirmative. Kissoon said that it was the same concept he used when he did the research. Kissoon told the court that ideological racism has to be defined by knowing what ideology is, and he relied on two European philosophers, Carl Marx and Louis Alatehssur.
The matter was later adjourned for Thursday where questioning of Kissoon will continue.
On the last occasion, race relations expert, Dr David Hinds, was the last witness to be called.
Dr David Hinds is Assistant Professor of Caribbean and African Diaspora Studies at Arizona State University. He has written two books on race relations in Guyana
Former President Jagdeo launched the libel case claiming that Kissoon’s article suggested that he is a racist and that “by extension, the State and Government of Guyana, practice racism as an ideology, dogma, philosophy and policy.”

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Jagdeo/Kissoon libel suit ….Freddie Kissoon called to the witness box

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