High Court orders Ramsammy to pay Enrico Woolford $5M for defamation

(Kaieteur News) – Justice Peter Hugh has ruled in favour of veteran broadcast journalist Enrico Woolford ordering former Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy to pay him $5 million in damages and $250,000 in cost for defamation.

Woolford had sued Dr. Ramsammy for controversial comments made against him in the column ‘Ramsammy Ruminations’ which was published in the Guyana Times six years ago. Justice Hugh also ordered Ramsammy to publish a public apology and retraction to Woolford within 21 days. The Judge also permanently banned Ramsammy and Guyana Times from publishing any defamatory words about Woolford by Ramsammy.

The judge found that Ramsammy wrongfully alleged that Woolford was part of a plot to rig the 2020 Guyana elections. While Ramsammy was ordered to pay Woolford, the judge dismissed the claim against the newspaper ‘The Guyana Times’ and awarded $250,000 in costs. Woolford was represented by Attorney Eusi Anderson. Woolford, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Communications Network (NCN), had filed a $185 million libel suit against Guyana Times and Ramsammy, a columnist, for libel.