Lawyers for the defence in the $10M libel suit brought against columnist Freddie Kissoon and the Kaieteur News newspaper yesterday signalled that they would field more than a dozen witnesses to prove that former President Bharrat Jagdeo was an “ideological racist.”
Kissoon’s lawyer Nigel Hughes made this disclosure moments after Jagdeo’s legal team closed its case in the High Court before Justice Brassington Reynolds.
Hughes told reporters that he plans “to call academic witnesses who have done research into this.” He added, “We are calling persons who have collected statements on the acts of discrimination during the two terms of the past president, we are going to be calling the first named defendant (Kissoon) and we are going to be calling people who have themselves suffered as a result of acts of discrimination by Jagdeo.”
Asked how many witnesses he would present, Hughes indicated that the number would be in excess of a dozen, while adding that he expected the case to continue for another six months at least.
Hughes stated that while he could have called Jagdeo to the stand to testify, he would not. “We could but we didn’t bother to call him because then he becomes our witness. We don’t want him to be our witness. He had his opportunity to come and he hasn’t come to establish anything,” he said, emphasising that the defence will be presenting its case to confirm that the Jagdeo is an ideological racist.
Jagdeo’s lawyers closed their case after the conclusion of the cross-examination of their third witness, Jason Abdulla, a contracted Government Information Agency (GINA) worker stationed at the Office of the President (OP).
Abdulla, in his evidence-in-chief, had said he was tasked with compiling articles written by Kissoon about Jagdeo and the government. Some of his duties included monitoring the print and electronic media on a daily basis and compiling articles that were critical of both the president and government.
During cross-examination yesterday, Abdulla explained that he reported to OP Press Officer Kwame McCoy. He said that he was required to read Kissoon’s columns every day and look for certain words, then report to McCoy.
Abdulla was unable to recall when he was tasked with identifying articles related to the court case and later stated that it was McCoy who first contacted him. He added that at no time did McCoy ask him to look for the words “ideological racist.”
The witness identified an October 25, 2011 article, titled “Jagdeo attacks Nigel Hughes – accuses him of being an associate of criminals,” as one that he had reviewed.
Asked if after reading it, he assumed that Nigel Hughes was a criminal, he responded, “When reading the Kaieteur News, I don’t make such assumptions. It is always about content.” Asked if he made similar assumptions of Kissoon, Abdulla said that Kissoon was different from a Kaieteur News article. He explained that a Kaieteur News article headline may say one thing, but the content of the article may say something else.
During further questioning, Abdulla said that he did not believe that Jagdeo’s accusations were accurate, while adding that he believed that what was reported in the article was what the president said. However when again asked if he believed what the president said about Hughes, he responded, “Yes I believe what the president said.” He later said that he made no effort to ascertain whether the articles published were based on facts or otherwise.
Abdulla was also questioned by defence attorney Christopher Ram, who asked him about his qualifications in journalism. Jagdeo’s lawyer Sase Gunraj objected, arguing that the question was irrelevant. But Justice Reynolds indicated that the witness had described himself as a person who did analysis and as a result the question was relevant. “I am not qualified as a journalist… I have CXC, public management from IDCE, a few computer courses,” Abdulla later said. Asked if he passed English at CXC, he said he achieved a Grade Three pass.
Ram asked Abdulla if he had any positive regards for Kissoon’s articles. “I pay respect to most writings. Writing takes quite an effort but that does not say that I agree with all the content,” the witness replied.
Abdulla is the third witness in the suit against Kissoon, Editor of the Kaieteur News Adam Harris and the paper’s owner Glenn Lall, over a June 28, 2010 article, titled ‘King Kong sent his goons to disrupt the conference.’ Jagdeo’s suit contends that the article portrayed him as an ideological racist. The other two witnesses were Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon and OP media monitor Raul Kissoon. Raul Kissoon was due to resume his testimony on May 16, but the court was told that he no longer worked at OP.
The case is adjourned until July 30.
