JUSTICE William Ramlal has issued an injunction restraining Stabroek News from implicating Office of the President Permanent Secretary, Dr. Nanda Gopaul in the controversy surrounding the withdrawal of government advertisements from the newspaper.
The restraint was granted on February 26, following a writ filed by Senior Counsel Ashton Chase on February 19.
Stabroek News had printed a number of articles linking Gopaul to the decision by the Government Information Agency (GINA) to withdraw the ads and he complained that, notwithstanding statements by GINA and President Bharrat Jagdeo to the contrary, the newspaper maintained its stand.
That, Gopaul said, constituted libel and brought his character into disrepute.
Chase had written StabroekNews, requesting that it retract the statements and publish an appropriate apology to Gopaul, with a view to amicably settling the matter. But the non-response of the medium triggered the move for High Court intervention.
In the court papers, Gopaul said he is totally in favour of freedom of the press and his whole record as a trade unionist showed him struggling for freedom of expression, too.
He said he was embarrassed by persons, both locally and overseas, calling him about their concerns over his role as portrayed in the publications.
Gopaul, in a supplementary affidavit, also denied allegations by Stabroek News Editor-in-Chief David deCaires that he was misusing government finances to penalise the newspaper by withdrawing the government ads.
Guyana Publications Incorporated is another defendant in the continuing litigation.