POLICE Commissioner Gary Griffith has again initiated legal action over statements made about his son’s inclusion on the Trinidad and Tobago national football team.
Earlier this month, proceedings were filed against an ex-national cricketer for statements made on social media.
On Friday, attorneys for Griffith Larry Lalla and Vashisht Seepersad fired off a pre-action protocol letter to public relations practitioner Dennise Demming and sports journalist Lasana Liburd accusing them of publishing defamatory statements about him.
Seepersad said the statements on Liburd’s Wire868 website and Facebook page as well as Demming’s own website were “defamatory, offensive, unfounded and highly irresponsible.”
The statements relate to an opinion piece by Demming, published on June 24, on her website, and reposted on Wired868, headlined: “Demming: Today he used his power to try to get his son into national team, what will it be tomorrow?”
Seepersad said the article implied that Griffith abused his office as commissioner to influence his son’s selection on the national football team; was guilty of malfeasance; was no longer fit to perform his duties; and should resign or be removed from office.
“This letter serves to inform you that the said defamatory statements contained in the said article and the innuendos of and concerning our client, resulted in hi(s) unjustifiably brought into odium and disrepute and suffering irreparable damage to his personal, professional, national and international reputation.”
Demming and Liburd were told Griffith intended to institute High Court action against them, which would include securing an injunction to prevent further publications about Griffith.
However, they were told, as a “sensible alternative to long and expensive litigation,” the commissioner was prepared to accept, by way of settlement, an unqualified apology, an undertaking not to repeat the allegations or make similar claims, and the payment of a substantial sum in damages “to demonstrate the baselessness of the allegations” and compensate him for the injury he has suffered to his reputation.
They were given 14 days to respond.
In a separate legal letter, also sent on Friday, the two attorneys also warned Sangre Grande music producer Alan Brizan of the commissioner’s intention to institute legal proceedings against him for defamation.
The letter to Brizan concerns statements he made in February, on the deaths of Andrea Bharrat and two suspects who had been held in connection with police investigations into her disappearance and murder.
Griffith’s attorneys complained of Brizan’s initial post and a second post on his Facebook page.
Seepersad said, “We contend that your posts were the product of highly irresponsible, malicious and ignorant conduct, showing scant regard for the reputation of our client, a public official and of his office as the Commissioner of Police.”
Brizan was also given 14 days to respond to the pre-action letter. He was also given the same options as Demming and Liburd of payment of compensation and an apology.
The threat of legal action against Brizan follows a similar threat attorneys for the music producer made in May, when a pre-action protocol letter was sent to Griffith and the Office of the Attorney General, accusing the commissioner of intimidation and misfeasance in public office.
Brizan was interviewed for hours after he posted information on February 9 on social media relating to Bharrat’s disappearance and murder.
Minutes after he made that post, Griffith sent him a message.
Griffith also said he had reported Brizan's post to the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), which was doing an independent investigation, and was contemplating filing a defamation lawsuit of his own.
In the pre-action letter, Brizan alleged false imprisonment for three hours when he was subjected to an interview with the police.
Griffith had also been accused of using his office to procure, coerce, and/or compel Brizan’s submission to the interview, using it as a tool of intimidation and not for any legitimate police investigation, and having wilfully and maliciously caused Brizan to alter his Facebook post and engaged in conduct designed to further intimidate the former media writer and graphic artist.
SOURCE: T&T Newsday