The Full Court of the High Court on Wednesday dismissed four appeals filed by former Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Roxanne Myers arising from defamation claims she brought following the 2020 General and Regional Elections. The Court, comprising Justices Nareshwar Harnanan and Nigel Niles, upheld earlier rulings that dismissed all four matters brought by Myers against several public figures and media houses.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo
On March 4, 2021, Myers initiated two High Court actions seeking damages exceeding $50 million each. The first (2021-HC-DEM-CIV-SOC-62) was filed against Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and News Room Inc. The second (2024-HC-DEM-CIV-FCA-91) named attorney Sanjeev Datadin and News Room Inc. as defendants. Both cases alleged defamatory statements relating to Myers’ conduct during the 2020 electoral process.
Former GECOM’s Deputy CEO, Roxanne Myers
Myers subsequently filed two additional claims. On July 14, 2021, she brought an action (2021-HC-DEM-CIV-SOC-85) against Leslie Ramsammy and Guyana Times, seeking over $45 million in damages. On June 8, 2022, a fourth action (2022-HC-DEM-CIV-SOC-27) was filed against Lennox Shuman, the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), and Guyana Times, claiming damages in excess of $15 million.
On August 12, 2024, Justice Navindra Singh dismissed the cases against Jagdeo and Datadin, ruling that the words complained of could not bear the defamatory meanings alleged and that the claims had no reasonable prospect of success.
A week later, on August 19, 2024, Justice Singh dismissed the cases against Ramsammy and Shuman for want of prosecution. The Court cited a pattern of delays by Myers, including her failure to file a directed application for GECOM documents and her absence from a scheduled pre-trial review.
Myers appealed all four dismissals to the Full Court.
In Wednesday’s rulings, the Full Court upheld the dismissals. In Myers v Ramsammy and Guyana Times (FCA 2024-HC-DEM-CIV-FCA-99) and Myers v Shuman, Liberty and Justice Party, and Guyana Times (2024-HC-DEM-CIV-FCA-27), the Court found that Myers’ repeated delays and failure to appear justified the dismissals for want of prosecution.
In the appeals against Jagdeo and Datadin-Myers v Bharrat Jagdeo and News Room Inc (FCA 2024-HC-DEM-CIV-FCA-91) and Myers v Sanjeev Datadin and News Room Inc. (FCA 2024-HC-DEM-CIV-FCA-92), the Full Court affirmed that the statements complained of were not capable of bearing the defamatory meanings alleged and concluded that there was no basis to disturb the trial judge’s exercise of discretion.
The Full Court ordered Myers to pay costs amounting to $250,000 to each of the following parties, Bharrat Jagdeo, Sanjeev Datadin, Leslie Ramsammy, Lennox Shuman, the Liberty and Justice Party, Guyana Times (in two matters), and News Room Inc. (in two matters), bringing the total to $2,250,000. These costs must be paid on or before June 30, 2025.
Myers was represented in the High Court by Eusi Anderson and in the Full Court by Anderson and Darren Wade.
Bharrat Jagdeo, News Room Inc., and Guyana Times were represented by Devindra Kissoon, Natasha M. Vieira, and Abhimanyu Dev of London House Chambers. Sanjeev Datadin was represented by Ganesh Hira. Leslie Ramsammy was represented by C.V. Satram and Ron Motilall. Lennox Shuman and the Liberty and Justice Party were represented by Sanjeev Datadin.
