The High Court has ordered One Caribbean Media Limited (OCM) to pay more than TT$350,000 (US$51,558) in compensation to a customs officer who sued over a television report by investigative journalist Mark Bassant that alleged he had links to the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group.
According to the Trinidad Guardian newspaper, Justice Avason Quinlan-Williams awarded damages this week after upholding Clint Rivers’ defamation claim arising from an investigative report aired on OCM’s CCN TV6 on April 15, 2015.
Rivers argued that the report falsely suggested he had travelled from Trinidad and Tobago to the Middle East in 2014 to become a foreign fighter for ISIS.
In his claim, Rivers said the allegations were completely false and damaged his reputation, family life and livelihood.
His legal team argued that while he is a follower of Islam, he had no involvement with ISIS or any other terrorist organisation, whether locally or internationally.
They said that if proper checks had been conducted with immigration authorities, it would have been established that Rivers left Trinidad and Tobago in 2014 to perform Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
Rivers claimed the broadcast had serious consequences for him and his family, including an incident in February 2018 when police arrested him at his home while he was with his seven children.
He said he was detained for several days and questioned about alleged links to ISIS and a purported plot to destabilise Carnival celebrations.
His lawyers said Rivers and his family suffered ‘considerable hurt, distress, and embarrassment’, and claimed his children were bullied at school because of the allegations. They also said he lost customers for a private transportation service he operated.
In her ruling, Justice Quinlan-Williams found that the statements made in the report were defamatory to Rivers.
The judge rejected OCM’s defence that the report was the product of responsible journalism.
However, in determining the compensation awarded, Justice Quinlan-Williams did not consider Rivers’ arrest and detention, which occurred almost three years after the broadcast.
OCM was also ordered to pay Rivers’ legal costs for pursuing the case.