Mr George ‘Umballa’ Joseph (who is a popular radio talk show host with Louis Lee Sing’s radio I 95.5FM), recently lost a libel case before Justice Peter Jamadar. He had sued UNC’s Harry Partap and the Newsday over a letter to the editor which the former wrote in response to his claim that ‘UNC MP’s were all malicious’. During the course of the trial it emerged that Umballa had used remarks ‘which, in the context of the history and sociology of Trinidad and Tobago were clearly derogatory and demeaning.’ Such terms included “damn United Nasty Canesuckers”, “United Nasty Canecutters” and “United Nasty Coolies”.
Since then, Umballa has boldly repeated these obscene, not-so-veiled insulting references to the Indo-Trinidadian community. Apparently it never dawned on him that if Indians responded by saying the PNM stood for ‘People’s Nigger Movement’ and ‘Plenty Nasty Mulattoes’ our country could just descend into a nasty racial abyss. In the meantime, the Telecommunications Authority stands idly by, afraid to touch Umballa, presumably because the station’s close ties to the government.
The day after he lost the case, Umballa and Lee Sing launched a scathing attack on the judiciary that suggested that it was not possible for ‘poor black people’ to get justice in this country. The idea and message is clear: black people could only get justice from African judges. Umballa went further, hinting that there was a Presbyterian mafia in operation, making snide references to that fact that it was the same Jamadar who ruled that the Trinity Cross was discriminatory. No mention is made of the fact that Justice Jamadar openly declared to the lawyers and litigants that he was an Elder in the Presbyterian Church (as was Partap), and would gladly disqualify himself from hearing the case if either party so desired and no objection was taken.
The facts are distorted to imply that the judge was biased because he was an Indian Presbyterian and did not disclose this. His judgment in the Trinity Cross case is prejudicially referred to as evidence of some deep-seated undisclosed political/racial/religious bias that affected and influenced his judgment in dismissing Umballa’s case. No mention is made of the fact that this was the same judge who decided the Ken Gordon ‘pseudo-racist’ case against Panday and ordered him to pay $600,000. plus interest. Instead, he is part of some hitherto unknown ‘Presbyterian Mafia’ that has been secretly operating in this country.
Attacking the judiciary is a favourite hobby of politicians. Panday is the chief culprit, having constantly attacked the system, claiming he cannot get a fair trail of genuine justice here. This, notwithstanding the fact the historic ruling by three non-Indian judges in the Court of Appeal in his favour. Ramesh, his AG wasn’t exactly backward either, having suggested that Justice Archie would have been biased in hearing the Gypsy and Chaitan election petition cases because he had been denied a housing allowance.
Manning almost toppled the judiciary by going for the jugular in his thus far failed attempt to remove the CJ. Political manipulation by PNM spin doctors (such as Umballa), have led to the portrayal of CJ Sharma as a Hindu, Indian extremist who is a die-hard UNC.
The latest salvo came on Friday, when Minister Ken Valley sought to defend his political leader who lost a case regarding an attempt to transfer Foreign Affairs Officer Feroza Ramjohn because he deemed her a threat to national security by accusing trial judge Justice Amrika Tiwary of being biased. Mr Valley actually described her as ‘a UNC’ and promised that the government would appeal the case all the way to the Privy Council.
Our country is small, politically and racially divided. It is not that judges are above criticism. No one and no system is perfect. The tentacles and influence of politics reach into every institution in every country. Responsible and justifiable criticism improves the administration of justice by highlighting unwanted negatives but unjustified attacks by unsuccessful litigants bring the administration of justice into disrepute. By and large, our judiciary is intelligent, well-qualified, independent and fair. Even where there may be grounds for perceptions of bias (such as previous political affiliations or family members who are actively involved in politics) these individual judges oftentimes try doubly hard to be fair because they are aware of these perceptions.
Judges are at a great disadvantage because they cannot speak out on matters that affect them. It is our duty as a society to protect them from unjustified and malicious criticism by those who should know better.
By Anand Ramlogan
2007-05-05
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