SEAGA. agrees to apologise

EDWARD Seaga has opted to apologise to controversial businessman Kenneth "Skeng Don" Black, rather than go to trial to defend Black's contention that he was defamed by the Opposition leader.

It was the second libel suit in which Seaga has emerged at the losing end in less than a week, following a court ruling last Thursday that he should pay former deputy police commissioner, Leslie Harper, $3.5 million in damages, plus costs, for statements made at a 1996 political rally.
Seaga's lawyers informed a high court judge of their client's decision yesterday during pre-trial hearings at which the parties decided whether there was room for compromise.

"The consent judgement basically imposes the acceptance of an apology on the part of Mr Seaga to Mr Kenneth Black and that it should be published in the major newspapers of the country and broadcast on all the radio stations on successive days, and also the payments of legal costs," said Black's lawyer, Bert Samuels.

Seaga will also have to pay $500,000 in legal fees, a third of what Black had asked for when his lawyers initially placed the offer on the table during the case management proceedings a week ago.

BLACK. sued Seaga for defamation

Samuels' office later yesterday said the apology will begin to run in Sunday newspapers this weekend.

"The apology. will run once in each of the following publications: The Sunday Observer, Sunday Gleaner and Sunday Herald," a spokesperson at Samuels' office said.
The apology will also run on television on Sunday and on Power 106 and HOT 102 on Monday afternoon during their major news programmes.

Black is the principal of the construction firm Black Brothers and is widely known for his support of the ruling People's National Party (PNP). Questions have often been raised about government contracts which go to his company.

He sued Seaga for defamation two years ago for a statement the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader made about Black Brothers as well as about Black's training and intellect.

Seaga was forced into backing down in the Black case when last week's ruling by Justice Patrick Brooks in the Harper matter effectively undermined his defence.

In both cases the opposition leader had claimed qualified privilege as his defence, arguing that given the office he held he had a responsibility to pronounce on the issues which were of public importance.

The Harper case arose out of a statement by Seaga that the Government was about to move then police commissioner, Colonel Trevor MacMillan, and replace him with someone whose best asset for the job was his support for the PNP.

Seaga's lawyers last week gave verbal notice of intent to appeal in the Harper case, but it was not clear yesterday whether they have as yet formally filed papers.
Seaga still has another unresolved libel case in the courts, but this time one in which he sued and won the first round.

Three months ago, at a pre-trial proceeding, Justice Marva McIntosh held that Western Broadcasting, the owners of HOT 102, had in fact reached an agreement with Seaga to pay $3 million in cash and $20 million in advertising for alleged slander by several persons on the Breakfast Club programme broadcast on the station.

But the station, which is part of Neville Blythe's CVM Group, is appealing that decision, suggesting that what was determined to be an agreement were in fact exploratory discussions, which had not yet embraced other critical parties in the case.

Ironically, the Breakfast Club's co-host, Tony Abrahams, a former tourism minister, earlier this year had the Privy Council uphold a $34-million libel award in his favour against the Gleaner newspaper, ending a 16-year saga.

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