Tabor has no apology for PM Browne over alleged defamation

Opposition Senator Damani Tabor said he would not be apologising to Prime Minister Gaston Browne and his wife Maria Bird-Browne even after receiving a lawyer’s letter demanding he retract alleged defamatory statements about Bird-Browne.
The senator said he was served with a letter yesterday from the office of Rika Bird & Associates on behalf of the prime minister and he stands by his statements and questions he asked via the media over the past year – up to January 2017.
In the letter, the law firm asserts that Tabor made false statements about the relationship between the government and Share Incorporated, a charity controlled by Bird-Browne.
Over a year ago, the government had said it was partnering with the foundation to create a venture capital fund for business start-ups and expansions, with emphasis on female and youth entrepreneurs.
The government had said Bird-Browne’s charity would only be a contributor to the fund and the $2 million to be used for entrepreneurial development would come from several sources, including the government which would provide the core, the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank, among others.
Tabor is accused of suggesting otherwise on radio, and the prime minister wants him to retract the statements, apologise and make an offer for damages and cover his legal expenses incurred to engage a lawyer.
The law firm wrote, “We are instructed that your allegations are false and carry grave defamatory imputations against our client as Prime Minister and Minister of Finance … Absolutely no money was transferred to the Foundation by the government.”
The lawyer warned that if Tabor refused to recant what he said within seven days of receiving the letter, he “may” be sued.
Tabor’s lawyer, and father Charlesworth Tabor has since responded to the letter, saying that his client is prepared to defend the “frivolous” matter in court should the prime minister choose to pursue a lawsuit.