GECOM’s DCEO takes Jagdeo, News Room to court for libel

Jul 02, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo is the subject of a libel case brought by Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Roxanne Myers. Myers is also suing online news outfit, News Room for libel for statements published on March 5, 2020.

Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo.

According to the statement of claim document seen by this newspaper, Myers has asked the Court to grant her in excess of $150M worth in damages for defamation statements made and published via the two defendants.
In the matter drafted by attorneys Nigel Hughes and Eusi Anderson, the DCEO has asked the High Court to order Jagdeo to pay her damages in excess of $50M for statements, which he made and were published on March 5, 2020.
In addition to the initial $50M claim, Myers has asked the Court for orders for Jagdeo and News Room to pay her in excess of $100M for the statements, which were published on the Worldwide Web via the online news outfit.
The claims of damages and aggravated damages were followed by a request by the DCEO, a permanent injunction, which will bar Jagdeo and News Room, their servants or agents from further publishing any such libelous statements or material of similar content that will create the same damaging effect to her character.
The claimant has also asked for retraction of the published interview and an apology from the defendants for airing the content to its audiences, which include citizens of Guyana and people across the worldwide web. The DCEO explained, in the grounds to support the statement of claim that the incident happened while she was on duty at the GECOM Command Centre at Ashmin’s Building on High Street on March 5, 2020.
According to Myers, News Room aired a video clip of Jagdeo claiming that she was holding the Chairperson of GECOM (Rt’d) Justice Claudette Singh hostage at the GECOM centre as the entire country awaited the results of the March 2, 2020 Regional and General Elections. Additionally, the DCEO said that Jagdeo accused her of being in collusion with District Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo who was fingered for attempting to make false declarations regarding the 2020 elections results.

DCEO, Roxanne Myers.

Citing portions of the 15: 56 video clip in the court document, Myers quoted Jagdeo as saying, “Roxanne Myers has it (the declarations made by Mingo)… Roxanne Myers has now taken the Chair in a room and the two of them are locked up there. I suspect Roxanne Myers is in contact with Congress Place and bullying the Chair. She is being held hostage in a room with Roxanne Myers …She is being held hostage in GECOM now, but Roxanne Myers is sitting there with her. Roxanne Myers is the one that brought the fraudulent list that came there …”
The document continued quoting Jagdeo as saying, “You can recall how Patterson hired Roxanne Myers. I tried to see her [the Chair] and Roxanne Myers rushed into the room and stood up there too, when I was there… She was not going to leave; she wants to be in there all the time, and she was not going to leave. She is the one who came in there and locked up the room for the last three hours and the Chair can’t emerge…”
Further, the DCEO’s grounds outlined that Jagdeo was recorded by News Room stating, “Roxanne Myers brought the spreadsheets… APNU is working through Roxanne Myers.”
As such, in the face of the context of the events which surrounded and followed the March, 2, 2020 Regional and General Elections, Myers submitted that the statements made by Jagdeo and published by News Room can be understood by any reasonable reader or subscriber of the news channel to mean that she was de void of integrity, of questionable character, and dishonest in the function of her duty. Myers said that it is her opinion that the statements were maliciously made against her given that the defendants had nothing to evince the allegations. The claimant said that she is therefore seeking compensation for the distress and injury caused to her person and character by Jagdeo and the online news outfit.