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OECS Director General, Dr. Len Ishmael
On 15th February 2008 Attorneys acting on my behalf in my capacity as Director General of the OECS filed action in the High Court of Saint Lucia against Timothy Poleon – Talk Show host of “News Spin,” and Radio Caribbean (1982) Limited as Defendants – for defamation of character. The defendants have agreed to issue an apology, categorically denying the truth of, and dissociating themselves entirely from the defamatory and hurtful statements which were made over RCI’s Newspin Programme on 15th and 16th February of 2007. These newscasts had received considerable prominence – both regionally and internationally, in all forms of media, causing considerable distress to me personally and professionally and embarrassment to the Organization which I serve.
Although this apology has come close to 3 years after it was first requested pursuant to the defamatory broadcasts, today, I feel vindicated. I have been patient in pursuit of this outcome, and feel that justice has been served. My good name and the reputation which I have worked tirelessly to build, will have been restored. It takes a lifetime to build a solid reputation, one based on a code of personal ethics and integrity, but one careless moment for it to be tarnished by those who have ulterior motives and who succeed in using the press in reckless pursuit of their personal grievances. It is my hope that this public apology points to the need for responsibility, always, in search of the truth.
Apology / Retraction
Radio Caribbean (1982) Limited is the owner in Saint Lucia of the radio station on which the programme called “ News Spin”, hosted by Timothy Poleon, is broadcast Monday to Friday between the hours of 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm. This programme is a popular talk show programme with a wide listening audience throughout Saint Lucia and the wider Caribbean. The programme is also broadcast or streamed live over the internet.
On the 15th and 16th February, 2007 the host of the said programme purported to break a story on the said programme, of and concerning the OECS Secretariat and the Director General of the said Secretariat. At the time of the broadcasts Dr Len Ishmael was and continues to be the Director General of the Secretariat.
During the aforesaid programmes, statements were made accusing or alleging the Director General of financial impropriety, misconduct or mismanagement concerning the discharge of her duties as Director General and causing negative staffing issues at the Secretariat and alleging that the Director General was the subject of investigation by the Chairman of the OECS into such alleged misconduct. Such statements were again made on the 16th February, 2007, after an OECS press conference, during which the Chairman of the OECS Authority, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, the Hon. Baldwin Spencer, categorically denied the truth of the statements or the existence of any such investigation.
These statements were later carried by the local, regional and international press, namely the BBC and Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
RCI and Timothy Poleon wish to categorically state that there is no factual or other basis for such statements against the Director General, Dr Len Ishmael and wish to apologize for any damage which she may have suffered as a result of the broadcasts and the repetition of such false and unfounded allegations.
