Melissa Ann Atwell, a Facebook personality, who goes by the call name of ‘Melly Mel,’ attracted the ire of the Attorney General (AG) who has filed a court action against her claiming $100 million in damages for libel. Over the past week Ms. Atwell, in a series of posts on Facebook, revealed in a diatribe ripe with abuse of Mr. Nandlall, that he is the source of a great deal of juicy, but explosive, information involving the actions and activities of his colleagues. It appears that the AG, noted for his verbosity laced with inflated prose, took umbrage at the disclosures, which he denies, and has instituted legal proceedings. Apart for the claim of the above sum as damages, the AG is asking the court to grant an injunction against Ms. Atwell from further publishing the material which he alleges to be defamatory and an order to remove the material from Facebook.
The AG is aware that court documents are public documents and can be published, written about and commented upon by any member of the public providing that comments that might be deemed to be contempt of court are avoided. But in order toacquire additional publicity that the press might accord the proceedings, the AG posted the material part of the pleadings that he filed on his Facebook page. I have the distinct honourand privilege of being a Facebook ‘Friend’ of the AG and so I saw the documents yesterday morning. During the day, while considering what subject I should deal with for my Sunday blog on ‘The Conversation Tree,’ I concluded that it was my solemn duty to assist the AG in his clear plan to publicise his court proceedings as widely as possible to promote his denials of giving information to Ms. Atwell. While I am conscious that my modest weekly offerings may not be widely consumed, I nevertheless felt that I must assist in his effort. The matters set out below are already in the public domain and I merely repeat them to assist the AG in enhancing wider circulation based on his clear wishes.
As revealed in the court documents which have been filed, Ms. Atwell appears to be accusing the AG of meeting with US authorities to try to bring her back to Guyana, the purpose for which is not stated. Her revelations suggest that the publication of what the AG allegedly told her was in revenge for his role in the above episode. She went on to inform the PPP that the AG is “a weapon formed against yall that prospering.” She accused the AG of “playing a three headed snake and trying to set [her] up.”She accused him of being “too wicked,” that she never trusted him and that he has proven her right. Ms. Atwell accused the AG, his brother and “Indar” of wanting “to do a deal and supply fuel for GPL.” Even our President was dragged through the melee. Ms. Atwell alleges: “Ya tell me how the cricketer fronting the company (to supply oil to GPL) for President IrfaanAli and to write about him so jagdeo could see cause he does put some long hair boy name steve and Jason Abdullah to report everything on my page…” Ms. Atwell accused the AG of killing Crum-Ewing, of being involved in the phantom squad, of being a murderer, a thief and a snake and of saving files and information so that “they” can’t get rid of him. Much intrigue is alleged to have transpired in relation to the elections to the executive committee of the PPP of May Thomas which was promoted despite the publicized issues relating to her in order tonegatively impact the selection of him as the presidential candidate. Ministers Manickchand, Bharrat, the First lady and several others were not spared, all being allegedly accused by the AG of various forms of corruption.
The AG pleaded in his court documents that, in addition to the above, Ms. Atwell’s words meant and were understood to mean that: he is untrustworthy and dishonest, speaks ill of his fellow cabinet members, is unfit to be AG and Minister of Legal Affairs, is unfit to be a lawyer and leader of the Bar, in unfit to be a member of the legal profession, is unfit to be an MP and is unfit to be a public figure and political leader. The AG claims that he was accused of being a murderer, is deceitful and untrustworthy, is corrupt and engaged in a criminal conspiracyand is a thief. All of these accusation are damaging to his character.
The court document published by the AG, called a Statement of Claim, that sets out his allegations in full and the claims that he is making against Ms. Atwell, will eventually be considered by, deliberated on by the court, if the case is ever tried, as Ms. Atwell apparently lives in the United States. While the AG denies giving information to Ms. Atwell, she claims others from the PPP do so. Ms. Atwell then makes explosive allegations on her Facebook page. Those who do so should know that these kinds of activities sometimes come back to bite you.
Ralphie, it is one thing to be a Facebook Friend of Anil, but to go out on a limb for him in this online fracas may well be a bridge too far even for you.
Remember your 2012 revelation of pervasive corruption in the Jagdeo-led PPP government? You could only have made that revelation public based on first-hand knowledge; especially during your tenure as House Speaker.
But rather than using your revelation to take responsibility and effect changes, the corroded elements controlling the corridors of power hounded you out. Would you say that any of the allegations Melly Mel reportedly made against Anil is worse than what you knew constituted ‘pervasive corruption’ in the government?
Always remember you are dealing with the PPP government and not just Anil here, because other elements in the PPP were identified by Melly Mel. It’s one thing to name Anil, but how could she ever give up other names if she didn’t know these other people?
I don’t know you better than Anil, buy you always come across as a straight shooter, and unless you’re positioning yourself for a role as Anil’s attorney, you are best positioned to know the Jagdeo-led PPP of which Anil is a part.