00:00A political war of words is now threatening to spill into the courts.
00:05Defense Minister Wayne Sturge, through Freedom Chambers,
00:08attorneys led by Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan has issued a pre-action protocol letter
00:13to opposition chairman Marvin Gonzalez over comments made during a PNM public meeting in San Juan on June 3rd.
00:21The legal letter centers on remarks Gonzalez allegedly made while addressing supporters at the Kwesi.
00:27Among comments, Gonzalez said the security of Trinidad and Tobago cannot reside in the hands of these disgraceful people.
00:36According to Sturge's attorneys, that statement was live-streamed on the People's National Movement's official Facebook page
00:42and remains capable of being viewed, shared and republished by members of the public.
00:48The letter argues that the comments conveyed that Sturge obtained political office through criminal funding,
00:54knowingly accepted support from drug traffickers and was compromised by criminal interests.
01:00The legal team says the allegations are entirely false.
01:04In the correspondence, Sturge's attorneys say,
01:07Our client has never participated in, facilitated, benefited from or been connected with any criminal enterprise.
01:16The legal letter also seeks to draw a distinction between Sturge's former role as a criminal defense attorney.
01:23His attorneys write,
01:24The correspondence goes on to describe Sturge as one of Trinidad and Tobago's most accomplished criminal defense attorneys
01:48and references a 2022 Privy Council ruling which referred to him as quote-unquote
01:55one of the country's most renowned members of the criminal bar.
01:59The defense minister argues the allegations are particularly damaging because of the office he now holds.
02:05The letter reads,
02:06To accuse the present sitting minister of defense of attaining office through the support of drug traffickers and drug dealers
02:13is among the gravest allegations capable of being made against a public official, end quote.
02:19Sturge is demanding that Gonzalez withdraw the allegations,
02:23issue a full public apology,
02:25remove any publications containing the statements,
02:28identify the sources of the information,
02:30and provide proposals for compensation.
02:32Should the demands not be met within 14 days,
02:36the defense minister says he intends to pursue legal action,
02:39seeking damages for defamation,
02:42aggravated damages,
02:44court orders to remove the publications,
02:46and an injunction against further repetition of the allegations.
02:50Urvashi Tuwari, Rubnarain, TV6 News.
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