Fmr. GECOM Deputy CEO awarded $4.3M in libel suit against Vincent Alexander, Chronicle

Aug 20, 2020 News

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Former Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Vishnu Persaud, has been awarded approximately $4.3M in a defamation suit brought against Vincent Alexander and the Guyana Chronicle newspaper.
The ruling, which was handed down by High Court Justice Priya Sewnarine Beharry on Tuesday last, outlined that Alexander must pay damages in the sum of $2,500,000 to Persaud; the Guyana Chronicle and its former Editor-in-Chief must pay damages in the sum of $1,500,000 jointly and severally.
Further, Alexander was ordered to pay $150,000 in court costs to Persaud, while the Guyana Chronicle and its former Editor-in-Chief were each ordered to pay the same sum jointly and severally. The sums awarded must be paid on or before September 30, 2020.

The judgment stems from a case Persaud brought against Alexander, an A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) GECOM commissioner and Guyana Chronicle and its former Editor-in-Chief, Nigel Williams, for the publications of statements which he contended were defamatory.
According to the lawsuit filed on Persaud’s behalf by Attorneys, Devindra Kissoon and Nicholas Caryll of London House Chambers, the claim stems from the contents of an article printed on June 14, 2018 in the daily newspaper under the caption: “Poor past…Alexander says Vishnu Persaud’s past performance sank him – Myers emerged the more qualified for the top GECOM post”.
The article which was accompanied by Persaud ‘s photograph stated, among other things, that “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.”
The court document noted that Persaud on June 16, 2018, published an article on the Stabroek News website in a bid to defend himself.
However, he claimed that Alexander replied in the comment section under the article where he insisted that “… When Mr. Persaud was appointed as DCEO, it was on the pretext that he was the holder of a first degree. I contested that then and it was maintained that his diploma was equivalent to a first degree hence my objection then was overruled. I specifically posed that question in the recent interview and he admitted it was not a first degree; hence, he was never eligible to be appointed in the first instance. This fact is carefully skirted in his letter. My evidence remained unchallenged.”
Additionally, the former DCEO noted that on June 20, 2018, the Guyana Chronicle published yet another article which contained the 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.”
In response, Persaud denied all the allegations, stressing that he never misrepresented his qualifications in any way.
He said that when he was appointed DCEO, he met the educational requirements set by GECOM, and submitted all details of his professional qualifications to GECOM and was hired on that basis.
Further, the former GECOM official noted the article led the public to believe 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.
In her ruling, Justice Sewnarine-Beharry held that 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.
She noted that Alexander went out of his way to publish the statements on platforms, which reached readers locally and worldwide.
Justice Sewnarine-Beharry noted too that Alexander ignored the demand for an apology in a letter sent by Persaud’s attorney.
“Rather than publishing a retraction of the article and an apology, he defended the statements as true in spite of plain evidence to the contrary. The repeated publication on the part of [Alexander] after [Persaud] was not selected for the position of DCEO in 2018, is indicative of malice as it served no other purpose than to damage [his]reputation,” she said.

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