Supreme Court Dismisses Defamation Case Against Shyne

Shyne Barrow

A defamation suit that was brought against Opposition Leader Shyne Barrow by Prime Minister John Briceño was dismissed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.  The claim arose out of a statement made by Barrow on Facebook in the wake of a New Year’s address that was delivered by then Opposition Leader John Briceño.  According to the leader of the United Democratic Party, the trial judge dismissed the matter on the ground that Shyne’s response was proportionate to the unfounded claim made by Briceño.

Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“I had gone to the attorney general at the time, Honorable Peyrefitte so that we could sue him.  Peyrefitte had given an ultimatum to provide the credible information that he had.  He never did it and I responded.  The learned Justice Young agreed that I had the right, according to case law, to respond to his slander, to his defamation, to his accusation baseless about the UDP government who Prime Minister Barrow happened to be the prime minister at the time.  She agreed that I had proportionately responded to his accusation and that it was not defamation.”

Isani Cayetano

“For clarity’s sake, was this your appearance on Channel Seven’s Uncut or was this on another forum?”

Shyne Barrow

“No, no.  This was before, this was in, I believe, 2019.  The 2019 New Year’s speech when Prime Minister Briceño said that he had credible information that the highest level of the U.D.P. were involved in landing drug planes.”