LONDON:
HEARING OF the appeal by The Gleaner Company Ltd. against the damages awarded to Anthony Abrahams, journalist and radio talk show host, ended at the Privy Council yesterday when the five-man panel adjourned to consider its decision after one and a half days of hearings. The reserved judgment is to be delivered at a later date.
Three days had been set aside for the appeal, which began on Monday, but the Law Lords ended proceedings after Lord Lester of Herne Hill, Q.C., had completed his presentation on behalf of the newspaper group.
The Law Lords did not hear oral arguments from Abrahams's lawyers but, however, acknowledged the written arguments submitted and indicated that they would give their verdict in due course.
The written arguments from Abrahams's lawyers state that his reputation was left in tatters and he was unable to work for five years after an "extremely grave" string of libellous articles were published about him.
Abrahams, a former Tourism Minister, was "ostracised" by friends and former colleagues and suffered mental and physical "trauma" after The Gleaner and its sister tabloid, The Star, ran the articles in 1987, his lawyers said.
The newspaper's parent company, The Gleaner Company Ltd. was assessed for damages in defamation in Jamaica in 1996 and a jury ruled it should pay J$80.7 million to Abrahams in compensation.
This award was reduced by more
than half by the Court of Appeal in 2000 to J$35 million but The Gleaner Company
appealed to the Privy Council, claiming the damages were "manifestly excessive"
and restrict press freedom of expression.
