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Court orders ‘Guyanese Critic’ to pay Mohameds $52M for defamation
From left to right: Nazar and his son Azruddin Mohamed and Mikhail Rodrigues also known as the ‘Guyanese Critic’
…Judge also imposes permanent injunction, restraining him and his news outfit from repeating defamatory statements
Kaieteur News – Social media personality, Mikhail Rodrigues also known as the ‘Guyanese Critic’ has been ordered to pay in excess of $52 million to businessman Nazar Mohamed and his son, Azruddin for defamation.
A default judgment rendered by Justice Nigel Niles on Monday also permanently bars Rodrigues and his company ‘They Break News’ from taking any further defamatory actions.
The court found Rodrigues guilty of defaming the Mohameds on multiple occasions in February and March 2024 during his online talk show. The Judge detailed punitive damages were awarded for these dates totaling to the sum of $22,500,000.00 each to the Mohameds. The breakdown of the damages was given as $7.5 million for defamation on February 17th, $7.5 million on March 1st, and another $7.5 million on March 14th.
Further punitive damages were awarded against Rodrigues and his company in the sum of $3,500,000.00 for defamation committed on 17th February, 2024, 1st March, 2024 and 14th March, 2024 made and broadcast on the social media platform Facebook by Rodrigues.
It was further ordered that the $22,500,000.00 bears an interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of filing to the date of judgment and thereafter. It was further ordered that a permanent injunction be and is hereby granted against the Defendants, restraining the Defendants whether by themselves, their servants and/or agents whosoever from uttering, repeating, posting, printing, publishing, sharing, reproducing, broadcasting or otherwise disseminating either by video, audio broadcast, print, social media or by other electronic means the offending words, utterances.
Back in March through their lawyers Poonai and Poonai, the Mohameds had filed a lawsuit against Rodrigues claiming in excess of $ 100 million each. According to the court filings, the social media commentator used his programme ‘Morning Live with the Critic’ to defame businessmen Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed. It pointed out that on February 17, 2024 and up to present, Rodrigues defamed the Mohameds through Facebook progammes where he publicly uttered and broadcasted several untrue and defamatory statements about the businessmen.
According to the filings, the statements and accusations against the Mohameds are patently untrue without justification, misleading, defamatory and have caused injury and significant harm to Nazar and his son Azruddin, their good name, reputation and lowered their name in the minds of right-thinking members of society. Prior to the lawsuit, Poonai and Poonai had written a letter to Rodrigues demanding that he cease and desist from making or repeating the defamatory statements he publicized against the Mohameds on his programme or at any public forum. The lawyer’s letters said. “In your broadcast, you introduce yourself as the realest thing. Despite this, it seems you have a propensity for disseminating blatantly untrue, libelous and fictitious statements without lawful basis or justification that in their natural and ordinary meaning and by way of innuendo, are defamatory to my client and his reputation.” It continued: “Further you hold yourself out as a Critic, yet none of your statements are valid or constructive criticism at all. Simply put, none of your statements are real, no matter the decibel you speak and the amount of times you repeat or the amount of vitriol and hate you heap upon my client, his son and family.” Further, the lawyers demanded that Rodrigues immediately removes or retracts the statements by offering his unqualified apology to the Mohameds. The letter demanded that Rodrigues paid the businessmen in excess of $200 million. The social media personality had however refused to accede to the demands of the Mohameds and it resulted in a lawsuit.
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