Attorney Anil Nandlall yesterday argued that Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo is protected by the defences of fair comment, justification and qualified privilege regarding statements he has made about Minister within the Ministry of Communities Annette Ferguson, who has sued him for libel.
Ferguson’s attorney Lyndon Amsterdam, however, refuted Nandlall’s claims, while saying that there is no evidence to support Jagdeo’s defences while damage has been done to the minister’s reputation.
The two lawyers were engaged in a heated exchange yesterday morning before High Court judge Gino Persaud, who Nandlall is urging not to grant the injunctive relief being sought by Amsterdam on behalf of the minister. Amsterdam wants the judge to grant his client an interim interlocutory injunction, prohibiting Jagdeo and the Guyana Times newspaper from respectively making statements and publishing information which she describes as untrue.