Georgetown, Guyana – October 22, 2024
In a significant legal victory, former Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine has won a defamation case against the Guyana National Newspaper Limited (GNNL), publisher of the *Chronicle*. The case arose from an article published on August 29, 2023, which falsely implicated Narine in misconduct, damaging his personal and professional reputation.
The article, which quoted City Councilor Patricia Chase Green, accused Narine of incompetence and misleading the City Council, resulting in the breach of contracts. The defamatory statements were reportedly met with “resounding cheers” from both PPP and APNU councilors, according to the original report.
In his complaint, Narine alleged that the article portrayed him as corrupt, dishonest, and unfit to hold public office. He further claimed that the publication caused severe harm to his reputation, both personally and professionally, as well as emotional distress for his family.
The Court’s Ruling
Justice Nicola Pierre, presiding over the case, ruled that the article was indeed defamatory. The court found that the statements falsely attributed to Narine were not only damaging but also capable of lowering his standing in the eyes of right-thinking members of society. As a pandit, politician, and former mayor, the claims of incompetence and conflicts of interest struck at the core of his public image, undermining the trust essential to his roles.
In its defense, GNNL admitted that the publication was inaccurate, clarifying that the individual being criticized by Chase Green was engineer Walter Narine—not Ubraj Narine. However, the newspaper argued that the article was an honest mistake, without malice, and that it issued a retraction and apology the following day, on August 30, 2023.
Justice Pierre acknowledged the retraction but criticized it as insufficient, noting that it was buried across multiple pages with no prominent headline identifying the mistake. The court ruled that the apology likely did not reach the same audience that had consumed the original defamatory article, thus failing to adequately mitigate the harm caused.
Impact and Damages Awarded
The court found that GNNL’s report lacked fairness and accuracy, key elements required under the Defamation Act to claim privilege for reporting on public meetings. Efforts to verify the story were found lacking, as the journalist did not contact Narine for comment before publication and relied heavily on inaccurate background information from other news sources.
Justice Pierre concluded that while there was no evidence of malice in the publication, the irresponsible journalism warranted compensation. The court ordered GNNL to pay GYD $700,000 in damages to Narine to compensate for the harm to his reputation, along with GYD $200,000 in legal costs.
