BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A 17-year-old outstanding defamation case involving opposition parliamentarian Hon. Eugene Hamilton, Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas and former MP Cedric Liburd will finally be resolved in mid-November.
On Friday, June 11, Justice Francis Belle set a new trial date of November 15, and said proceedings were expected to last four to five days.
The judge also dismissed with costs an application filed by Douglas and Liburd asking for permission to produce witness’ statements to support their defence of fair comment.
The matter stems from a 1993 incident in which Hamilton alleged that Douglas and Liburd made defamatory remarks about him during public meetings. In December 2009, the High Court set a trial date of April 2010, which was later vacated due to the Prime Minister’s absence.
The defendants had requested that a witness summons be issued to National Caribbean Insurance Company (NCIC) Chairman Jonathan Bass to produce all documents, contracts and correspondence during the period when Hamilton was NCIC General Manager.
Hamilton’s lawyer, Terence Byron, argued that they were only fishing for material to try to bolster their case, and that it was unfair for them to target Bass with the threat of contempt of court if he did not produce the documents.
Speaking to SKNVibes, Hamilton dismissed the application as “faulty”, and called it another case of Douglas and Liburd trying to prevent the matter from going to trial.
He noted that the new November date had been finalised with the consent of the defendants’ counsel Anthony Astaphan QC, and said he was confident that Justice Belle would not allow further delays to the already long-standing issue.
“It will be proven that the comments made by the Prime Minister and Liburd were slanderous and malicious, and that I am therefore worthy of exemplary damages…right-thinking people will see that I was dragged over the coals for no reason,” said Hamilton.
Meanwhile, Liburd told SKNVibes he was “very positive” about the case, stressing he was “eager” for the matter to finally come to a close. He said the dismissed application had not been a stalling tactic, but rather the defendants’ attempt to enhance their argument.
“We’re ready for the case,” he declared. “I don’t wish to comment, I will leave it to the court to decide. But I have a good feeling about it.”
