HGP Nightly News – Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has been ordered to pay journalist Enrico Woolford G$5 million after the High Court found that comments he published alleging Woolford was involved in a plot to rig Guyana’s 2020 elections were defamatory.
High Court Judge Justice Peter Hugh handed down the ruling Thursday, ordering Ramsammy to pay Woolford a further G$250,000 in costs.
But the financial award was only part of the judgment.
Ramsammy has also been given 21 days to publish a public apology and retraction, while the court has permanently restrained him from publishing further defamatory statements about Woolford arising from the statements at issue in the case.
The dispute arose from comments Ramsammy made approximately six years ago in his “Ramsammy’s Ruminations” column in the Guyana Times.
Justice Hugh found that Ramsammy had wrongfully alleged that Woolford was involved in a plot to rig the March 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Woolford subsequently filed defamation proceedings over the publication.
While Ramsammy was found liable, the judge dismissed Woolford’s claim against the Guyana Times itself.
The newspaper was nevertheless awarded G$250,000 in costs, while the court’s permanent restraint concerning the defamatory statements also applies to the publication.
The ruling means Ramsammy must now both compensate Woolford and publicly retract and apologise for the statements within the deadline set by the court.
Woolford was represented by attorney Eusi Anderson.
The case stems from allegations surrounding one of Guyana’s most politically contentious election periods, but Thursday’s ruling specifically concerned whether the statements published about Woolford were defamatory.
The court’s orders now place financial, publication and future-conduct consequences on Ramsammy following the finding against him.
