Attorney General John Delaney has filed a lawsuit against Progressive Liberal Party Chairman Bradley Roberts for defamation, in relation to a press release Roberts issued about the government’s recent Bahamas Telecommunications Company court case.
Delaney claims his reputation has been damaged after Roberts issued a press release containing derogatory comments that implied a lack of professional conduct on Delaney’s part.
The press release was published at the end of January on Facebook and two small local websites, thebahamasweekly.com and bahamaspress.com. The major media, including BahamasB2B.com, did not publish Mr Roberts’ press release.
Mr Delaney says the publication of the press release has seriously injured his reputation and that he has suffered considerable hurt, distress and embarrassment. He is seeking damages.
The lawsuit by the attorney general states that Mr Roberts’ comments “were understood to mean that [Delaney] was guilty of unethical or improper conduct in high public office, acted in conflict of interest, and breached the Code of Professional Conduct of the Bahamas Bar and standards of professional conduct generally.”
Many people were amazed to hear that the Bahamas Bar Association even had a Professional Code of Conduct.
In March, 2011, Mr Delanay gave Mr Roberts the opportunity to retract the statement and apologoize. Roberts declined to do so. Hence the law suit.
Robert’s attorney, Damian Gomez, filed a defense yesterday claiming Delaney has no reputation to defend.
