Lawyers acting for former Cabinet Minister, Matthew Samuda, have filed a defamation lawsuit against People’s National Party caretaker for St Ann North East, Ryan Simpson.

The suit is based on allegations Simpson made in a series of posts on social media.

Samuda’s attorney, King’s Counsel Patrick Foster filed the suit in the Supreme Court in Kingston on Tuesday.

According to Foster, on or about July 21, 2024, Samuda was made aware of a video posted to an account on the popular social media platform, TikTok.

The attorney outlined the name of the account where the offending content was placed and noted that it featured commentary from Simpson.

“The defendant deliberately published or caused to be published the said defamatory statements to cause harm to the reputation of the Claimant, particularly in circumstances where both the Claimant and Defendant are political opponents in the constituency of North East St Ann,” the lawsuit stated.

Samuda is seeking damages for defamation, including aggravated damages

He is also seeking interest pursuant to the Law Reform Miscellaneous Provisions Act, costs and any further relief as the court may deem fit.