Gleaner takes steps to remove injunction The following is a statement by the Chairman and Managing Director of the Gleaner Company Ltd., Mr. Oliver Clarke. THE GLEANER Company Ltd. was served with an ex parte injunction on Friday, June 22, which barred it from being able to publish an article which was scheduled to have appeared in The Sunday Gleaner of June 24. The injunction will last for seven days and it is alleged by Raymond Clough, attorney-at-law, who obtained the injunction, that the proposed article was libellous of him. However, the Tort of libel has a clear remedy in damages and for this reason the injunction appears to be a most unfortunate occurrence. If the published article libelled Mr. Clough then after publication he would have been free to seek damages against The Gleaner. The injunction makes reference to an accompanying affidavit by Mr. Clough and it must have been granted on the strength of the content of this affidavit. Unfortunately, Mr. Clough did not deem it fitting to serve the accompanying affidavit with the injunction. The injunction was served on Friday afternoon, after the court offices were closed to the public, so The Gleaner was effectively stymied from being able to assess what immediate action was necessary in order to seek to discharge the injunction and publish the article. The legal procedure permits one party to seek an injunction without the other party being notified and so The Gleaner was not invited to present its case before the judge at the time the injunction was granted. Jamaica has a time honoured history of press freedom and the journalistic profession has always been left to function with objectivity and responsibility so long as the practitioners remain accountable to the laws of the land as they relate to libel, contempt and privacy. Any individual who feels that his or her rights are affected is free to seek the appropriate remedy in a court of law. The Gleaner will fulfil its duty and report this occurrence to the international media associations of which it is a part. We will seek to inform ourselves fully of the content of the affidavit which accompanies Mr. Clough's injunction and take legal advice as to how the injunction can be speedily discharged so that the public may be informed of the contents of the article in so far as the law of the land permits. It is our intention to defend freedom of the press in Jamaica to the utmost of our ability and within the laws and Constitution of Jamaica.
|
