- Hearing Postponed: The Court of Appeal has rescheduled Phillip Alexander’s appeal against a TT$850,000 defamation ruling to December 17.
- Livestream Dispute: The delay follows an objection raised by Alexander regarding the planned livestreaming of the court proceedings on the Judiciary’s YouTube platform.
- Background: In 2023, the High Court ordered Alexander to pay damages to Mickela Panday, ruling that comments he made in a 2020 Facebook video were malicious, fabricated, and defamatory.
(CMC) – The Court of Appeal has rescheduled to December 17 a matter in which the junior housing minister, Phillip Alexander, is appealing a 2023 ruling that ordered him to pay the daughter of a former prime minister TT$850,000 in damages for defamation.
The Court of Appeal had originally scheduled the hearing for Monday, but Alexander, the political leader of the Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP), had objected that the proceedings involving the Patriotic Front political leader, Mickela Panday, would be livestreamed on the Judiciary’s YouTube platform. In a statement, the Judiciary said that an objection had been raised to the livestreaming, which was being considered by the court, and that there would be no livestreaming of the proceedings.
It later issued another statement indicating that the matter had been rescheduled to December 17.
“As an attorney-at-law, I continue to support the Judiciary’s ongoing commitment, as stated on its website last week, to improving public access to justice, promoting transparency and enhancing public understanding of the judicial process,” Panday, the daughter of former prime minister Basdeo Panday, told reporters.
Panday had taken legal action against Alexander based on a live video posted on his personal Facebook page and another page associated with the PEP on July 17, 2020, in which he commented on Panday’s party reversing its decision to contest the 2020 general election.
Justice Devindra Rampersad upheld Panday’s defamation claim, ruling that Alexander’s comments were defamatory and that the court was of the “respectful view” that the statement was malicious and “designed to sensationalise an obvious untruth that was fabricated for personal political gain and to denigrate and disparage the claimant.”
The High Court judge also found that Alexander’s statement did not qualify as responsible journalism, as claimed, adding, “there was no source of the information that was given in the video nor did it seem that there were any steps whatsoever taken to verify the information.”
Alexander had been ordered to pay TT$600,000 in general damages and TT$250,000 in exemplary damages.
The court said its assessment took into account Panday’s family name, which she inherited from her father, former prime minister Basdeo Panday, as well as her unblemished personal reputation as an attorney and politician.
Alexander was also ordered to pay TT$97,750 in legal costs for the lawsuit.
