Judge denies Ceres injunction in libel suit against Jagdeo

Charles Ceres

High Court judge Fidela Corbin-Lincoln has denied engineer Charles Ceres an injunction he was seeking against Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, whom he has sued for libel.

Following an in-chamber hearing yesterday afternoon, Jagdeo’s attorney, Anil Nandlall, told reporters that the judge, having considered the submissions and the fact that his client has pleaded justification in a case that involves freedom of speech, ruled that she is constrained from granting an injunction “at this stage.”

According to Nandlall, the law says that once a defendant in a libel matter pleads that he will justify the statements made in the “interest of freedom of speech and in the interest of a democratic society that encourages free discussion, then an injunction should not be granted.”