Roget sues Rowley over Facebook post

OILFIELDS Workers’ Trade Union president general Ancel Roget has filed a defamation lawsuit against former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley over a 2022 Facebook post that Roget says falsely linked him to criminal activity and efforts to destabilise the country.

Roget alleges the comments, published on August 29, 2022, accused him of supporting unlawful acts and attempted sabotage. The lawsuit stems from a post on Rowley’s official Facebook page that drew more than 1,000 reactions and 300 shares, in which Rowley suggested Roget and then-opposition UNC encouraged highway blockages and aided “marauding gangs of metal thieves.”

Roget argues the statements, made while Rowley held the nation’s highest elected office as prime minister, carried amplified influence and fuelled public hostility toward the labour leader.

“The said post was malicious, false and defamatory, and calculated to damage the claimant’s personal and professional reputation nationally and internationally.”

Roget maintains he has never endorsed illegal activity and remains committed to peaceful industrial advocacy. He said Rowley was allowed to retract the remarks in a pre-action protocol letter issued the same day the post was published and at a news conference, but no retraction followed.

“The statements and imputations contained in the post are inaccurate in fact and substance, and the subject post as a whole is highly defamatory of the claimant. The claimant had no involvement, indirect or otherwise, with the activities referred to by the defendant.”

Roget’s lawsuit also contends that Rowley’s attorney, in a response to the pre-action letter in October 2022, denied the allegation of defamation, citing the defence of justification and fair comment, contending also that there was a basis for the post.

The lawsuit seeks a full withdrawal of the allegations, a public apology, and damages for reputational harm. Roget is represented by attorneys Kiel Taklalsingh, Leon Kalicharan, Matthew Allahar and Johanna Richards.