Wired868 responds to ex-FIFA VP’s legal threat.
By: Lasana Liburd (wired868).Warner’s questionable suitMinister of Works and Infrastructure and ex-FIFA Vice President Jack Warner sent a pre-action protocol letter to me—the Wired868.com editor and publisher—on Friday through his attorney Om Lalla.
The legal document, which claimed defamation and libel, was published on the website of State-owned television station, CTV, and re-published on Facebook and several forums before it was even in my possession.
However, there was some confusion among readers as Lalla’s initial letter quoted the Trinidad Express Newspaper as the publisher of the offending article. A subsequent document was dispatched in care of the TnT Mirror Newspaper.
And, even when Lalla finally got the message to the right person via email, there was no mention of Wired868.
There are two immediate points about Warner’s claim that the article—entitled “Warner named in Haitian aid scandal” and published on 12 February 2012—caused him “serious distress and embarrassment” which seem to be undermined here.
In defamation suits, the intention tends to be to block the reproduction of a harmful statement. But, in this case, Warner himself ensured that the supposedly distressing allegations would be rebroadcast by having the letter sent to CTV.
This decision by Warner was especially ironic as the United National Congress (UNC) chairman initially threatened to sue Twitter users for re-tweeting less than ten words from the article yet went on to quote entire paragraphs to the press.
Secondly, Warner's letter quoted three sources of information for the article, which suggested that $4.4 million (US$690,000) from $4.76 million (US$750,000) in emergency aid for Haiti remained unaccounted for.
Warner, through his lawyer, named the UK Sunday Times, FIFA and Federation of Haitian Football (FHF) President Dr Yves Jean-Bart as the originators of a story that was described as "false, malicious and misleading and calculated to damage our client's reputation."
Wired868, after discussions with its attorney, believes that if Warner was as distressed as he claimed he might not have encouraged the offending segments to be re-published. If he was indeed serious about salvaging his reputation, Warner might have also demanded an apology from the UK Sunday Times, FIFA and the FHF who clearly initiated the story.
And, if Lalla treated his client's suit with the gravity suggested by the impending suit, one might expect that he would try to determine exactly who published the article before penning a letter and sending it to several bemused news rooms.
Lalla insisted that Warner be given a "full and unequivocal public retraction... and an apology" which must be published "in both the print and electronic media."
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