Speaker gets injunction against accuser of sexual molestation

Last Updated on Monday, 22 September 2014, 23:23 by GxMedia

The High Court on Monday ordered a 22-year old man to cease publishing allegations against House Speaker, Raphael Trotman and further ordered him to remove all such allegations from his Facebook Page, the Alliance For Change (AFC) said in a statement.

An injunction has been granted barring Johnny Anthony Welshman from publishing whether in the print or electronic media any material relating to allegations he has made against Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman. The injunction was granted today (September 22, 2014) in the High Court by Chief Justice Ian Chang, said that party.

“Welshman has also been ordered to remove all malicious content from his fb page,” added that party.

In his Ex Parte Affidavit in support of the application for the injunction, Trotman has also sought damages in excess of GUY$50 million for libel contained in a statements allegedly made by Welshman and published in the Stabroek News, Guyana Times and on Welshman’s Facebook page.

The House Speaker’s battery of lawyers include Nigel Hughes, Senior Counsel Robyn Stoby and Andrew Pollard.

Meanwhile, the Alliance For Change says it expresses unequivocal support for it Co-Founder and Speaker of the National Assembly against the recent spurious and unfounded allegations leveled against him.

Trotman has denied the accusations of sexual molestation. The Speaker further said he welcomed a thorough police investigation into the accusations and further desired that law enforcement agency to probe whether the allegations were calculated to besmirch the Constitutional Office of Speaker of the National Assembly.

Trotman and his AFC believed that the plot was politically motivated at a time when his party’s no-confidence motion was expected to come up for debate any time after the parliamentary recess ends on October 10, 2014. 

If approved, the administration of President Donald Ramotar would have to resign and call elections within 90 days.

The House Speaker on Monday confirmed that he barely knew his accuser through his family and it was on that basis that he last month gave him a broad character reference.