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‘Guyanese Critic’ ordered to pay Simona Broomes $8M for libel
Mikhail Rodrigues also known as the Guyanese Critic
Kaieteur News – Mikhail Rodrigues also known as the ‘Guyanese Critic’ has been ordered to pay former Minister of Government under the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) administration, Simona Broomes, a total of $8 million for libel.
In her decision, presiding Justice Priscilla Hanif determined that Rodrigues made libelous statements against Broomes on January 22, 2024 on his Facebook page, “They Break News” in a live stream video for his programme entitled “Morning Live with the Critic.”
She found that Rodrigues defamed Broomes when he stated that she was a part of a “whorehouse” business, a “trafficker”, meaning that the she was a human trafficker. On that basis, the judge found Rodrigues liable of slander and ordered that he pays Broomes general damages in the sum of $5 million for the said libel.
The judge also determined that Rodrigues defamed Broomes on his morning live show when he stated that she shut down many mining operations in the interior to the benefit of her mining operation. The Facebook commentator was ordered to pay Broomes general damages in the sum of $3 million for the said libel.
Additionally, Rodrigues was ordered to forthwith remove and/or cause to be removed all social media posts which contain the false and defamatory words or similar words which convey either expressly or infer the same meaning from his social media platforms, pages, profiles and website(s).
Broomes had originally asked the court to award her $450 million in damages.
In court documents seen by this newspaper, the former minister lists 14 times that the social media commentator made statements defaming her on his January 24, 2024 programme.
Former Government Minister, Simona Broomes
In the document drafted by her attorney Dexter Todd, Broomes noted that Rodrigues accused her of engaging in revolting activities — from claiming that she operated a ‘whore house’, to allegations that she was involved in ‘human trafficking,’ with the intent of damaging her character.
Rodrigues also claimed that Broomes who once occupied the portfolios of Minister of Natural Resources and Minister of Human Services received a US$225,000 scholarship from government and was involved in scams in shutting down various mining operations in the interior region to her own benefit and she incited public terror.
The lawsuit details that on his January 24, 2024 programme which was broadcast on Facebook, Rodrigues made the libelous statements against Broomes.
As part of the lawsuit, the claimant [Broomes] is seeking an injunction that would restrain Rodrigues, his servants and or his agents, from further publishing or causing to be publish, any statement by him that would convey the impression that she was involved.
She is also seeking an order to have Rodrigues remove the offending programme from all social media platforms, to retract his statements and issue an apology to her.
The lawsuit covers several parts of the broadcast that was done by Rodrigues and the many statements he made at various points in relation to Broomes.
In her grounds to support the claim, Broomes noted that she was a politician, Member of Parliament under the APNU+AFC Government, and a human rights activist who is highly respected nationally and internationally as a leader, businesswoman and miner.
Broomes was awarded by the U.S. State Department in 2013 as an international hero in the fight against human trafficking in Guyana.
At all material times, she noted Rodrigues falsely and maliciously published boldly and sensationally untrue allegations and statements about her on his widely viewed Facebook programme, ‘They Break News.’
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