Native Authorities Minister Desmond McKenzie, who can also be deputy chief of the ruling Jamaica Labour Occasion (JLP), has launched a defamation lawsuit in opposition to Damion Crawford, a senior official of the principle opposition Individuals’s Nationwide Occasion (PNP), following statements made at a public assembly earlier this yr.
The go well with, filed on Tuesday, stems from remarks Crawford made at a PNP-hosted assembly at Portmore Neighborhood School on March 2, 2025. Throughout his presentation, Crawford allegedly instructed that McKenzie was concerned in theft associated to the Equalization Fund, and made damaging feedback about McKenzie’s character and truthfulness.
McKenzie contends that the statements had been “false and defamatory,” inflicting him important damage, loss, and injury, together with to his repute. In line with the authorized declare, these allegations had been extensively circulated on social media and different on-line platforms, reaching an intensive however unquantified viewers.
Within the lawsuit, McKenzie asserts that he has been compelled to reply troublesome questions from financiers, enterprise pursuits, and abnormal residents relating to his integrity. He additionally claims to have been socially shunned by people who’ve concluded that he was concerned in wrongdoing.
Regardless of receiving a letter of demand dated March 4, 2025, outlining the information and requesting a retraction, McKenzie says Crawford has didn’t apologize or supply any type of amends.
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The Minister is in search of aggravated and exemplary damages, together with curiosity, for the hurt brought on by the statements.
