Duke takes legal action against website

PUBLIC Services Association (PSA) president Watson Duke has started legal action against a local blog, mytriniexperience.com, which lists alleged sex offenders.

In a pre-action protocol letter dated Tuesday, Duke and the union called on the website’s owners to remove his image.

The letter, sent by attorney Kelvin Ramkissoon, said the “registry” on the website, which bears the name Registry of Stores on Charges of Violence in Trinidad and Tobago, was not an official sex offenders registry but was in fact a de facto registry which contains links to newspaper articles.

Duke wants a full and unequivocal retraction and apology in all local daily newspapers and on websites by advertisement paid for by the website's owners.

The letter said the website owners were aware that the matters posted on the blog would have gained widespread readership and generated intense commentary and constituted a republication of grievous defamation against Duke and the union.

It also accused the owners of not taking steps to confirm the validity of the statements.

Duke and the union are asking for compensation and damages and will also be seeking an injunction against the website’s owners.