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Activist Moses Sulph loses to Mark King

HeadlineActivist Moses Sulph loses to Mark King

Sulph was hit with $40,000 fine for a Facebook post which slandered King and his security company

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Jan. 17, 2019– Social media has given voice to many people who would otherwise be voiceless, but for community activist Moses Sulph, his Facebook voice has come at an extremely high cost, following a judgment that was made against him in the Supreme Court, which ruled that he had slandered former UDP minister Mark King and his security company.
On Tuesday, January 15, Supreme Court Justice Sonya Young handed down a judgment in King’s favor.

The court had found that Sulph could not prove the allegations that he had made in his Facebook post about Brint’s Security concerning shortfalls in payment to its employees, a couple of whom testified in Sulph’s defense.

King claimed that his reputation and that of his company, Brints Security, had been damaged by Sulph’s Facebook post.

Before the lawsuit was filed in March of last year, King’s attorney, Estevan Perrera, had written to Sulph, demanding that he take down the post and offer an apology and compensation. Sulph did not comply and the matter went to court.

The court awarded damages to King in the sum of $10,000 for aggravated damages and $20,000 for general damages.

In addition, Sulph was also ordered to pay King’s attorneys’ cost of $10,000, bringing the entire fine to $40,000. Apart from Perrera, Payal Ghanwani had argued the case for King,

In his Facebook post, Sulph had alleged that Brints Security was not paying its employees’ salaries and overtime for extra duties. Sulph, however, was unable to prove his assertion in court, notwithstanding the witnesses that had testified on his behalf.

The witnesses who gave testimony at the trial were not able to convince the court that Sulph’s assertions were true.

Today, Sulph told reporters that he was never informed that the judgment was going to be handed down. He said that he learned about the judgment from a friend who had told him that he was sorry that he lost the libel case.

We asked Sulph if he is going to appeal the judgment against him.

Sulph said that he and his attorney will read over the judgment, and if there are grounds for appeal, they will appeal.

Sulph has 21 days from the time the judgment was given to appeal the decision.

“As an activist in the community, people come to me and tell me things,” Sulph said. “Actually, three of the witnesses came forward, but when they were asked to provide a pay slip, they were not able to provide it.”

Sulph said that in the future he will not post things relating to other people’s experiences.

The activist said that it is a lesson learned. “I learned my lesson and I will be more prudent next time,” Sulph said.

“The amount of the judgment will be hard for me to meet,” Sulph told reporters, “because I have children to take care of, and rent to pay, along with other living expenses.”

Sulph was defended by attorney Arthur Saldivar.

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