OILFIELDS Workers’ Trade Union president general Ancel Roget has filed a defamation lawsuit against former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley over a 2022 Facebook post that Roget says falsely linked him to criminal activity and efforts to destabilise the country.

Roget alleges the comments, published on August 29, 2022, accused him of supporting unlawful acts and attempted sabotage. The lawsuit stems from a post on Rowley’s official Facebook page that drew more than 1,000 reactions and 300 shares, in which Rowley suggested Roget and then-opposition UNC encouraged highway blockages and aided “marauding gangs of metal thieves.”

Roget argues the statements, made while Rowley held the nation’s highest elected office as prime minister, carried amplified influence and fuelled public hostility toward the labour leader.