Lawyers representing Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and two other government ministers as well as a senior police official have called on a United States-based blogger and a local radio journalist to apologize and retract a statement made on a local radio programme about them earlier this month.
In addition, Kenneth Rijock and journalist Matt Peltier are also being asked to pay compensation and costs associated with the legal action.
The lawyers claim that Rijock, who resides in Florida, made defamatory accusations against Skerrit, Foreign Affairs Minister Francine Baron, National Security and immigration Minister Rayburn Blackmoore and Police Inspector Pellham Jno Baptiste, who is in direct charge of Immigration and Passports.
The lawsuit alleges that Rijock was aided by Peltier, the host of the radio programme aired on April 20, this year.
The lawsuit stems from the ongoing controversy in Dominica regarding the Citizenship by Investment (CIP) programme through which foreign nationals are afforded citizenship in return for making a substantial investment in the socio-economic development of the island.
The lawyers Rijock “acted intentionally and or with extreme recklessness because you made absolutely no attempt to ascertain the facts from our clients”.
They said that his allegations on the radio programme which he said “emanated from inside the government and later corroborated” by an unnamed and unknown source of the United states is utter nonsense….”.
“In the circumstances our clients demand a prompt retraction and apology, and the payment of compensation and costs”.
