In his personal capacity and as President of Caribbean Guyana Institute of Democracy (CGID), Rickford Burke is being sued by Police Inspector, Prem Narine. The relevant documents will be served to Burke, who resides in the United States of America, via FedEx.
Narine is saying that Burke has caused serious damage to his reputation and as such, he wants to be compensated.
Through his lawyer, Sanjeev Datadin, Narine is petitioning the court for in excess of $5M in damages for libel.
Burke made a series of posts on his Facebook blog/ page concerning Narine.
The court is being told that several posts made in October 2021 which appeared on Burke’s social media pages were all false and without factual justification. Narine claims that the posts were all a sustained campaign to brutally defame him in his personal and professional capacity.
The court document seen by this publication states that Burke falsely and maliciously published on Facebook or caused to be published on Facebook an article captioned, “Breaking News !! Guyana Police Inspector Known To Be A PPP Activist & Notorious Racist Allegedly Murders Black Youth On East Bank Demerara.”
Other articles in contention are “CGID Condemns Heavily Armed Police Presence At Andries Funeral”and “Murder At Grove: Kevin Andries Was Lynched By PPP Police Mercenary Prem Narine – We Demand Justice!”All of these were published on Burke’s page.
The writ states that posts were accompanied by an image of Narine.
Furthermore, the court is being told that there is no truth to any of what Burke said about Narine.
The writ states, “…the Claimant was not present and was not a witness to any of the events referenced. His only knowledge of the events came about subsequent to the events and in so far as he was obliged to perform his duties as a police officer during investigations of the events which followed.”
The court is told that nevertheless, Burke painted Narine to be corrupt, a murderer and a political operative of the People Progressive Party Civic.
Narine stated in the court document that the published statements were intended and had the effect of lowering the his character, morality and honesty in the eyes of the right-thinking members of the public.
Narine also claims to have suffered considerable hurt, distress and embarrassment considering the fact that he is a senior member of the Guyana Police Force, which serves and protect the citizens of Guyana.
Therefore, in addition to the $5M, Narine is seeking an injunction restraining Burke, whether by himself, his servants or agents or otherwise, from further publishing or causing to be published the same or similar defamatory words.
He also wants the court to grant an interim injunction restraining the Defendant whether by himself, his servants or agents or otherwise, from further publishing or causing to be published the same or similar defamatory words of Burke.
