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A Trinidad court ordered journalist Pearce Robinson to pay $297,000 in damages and legal costs for Facebook defamation.
A Trinidad and Tobago High Court judge has ordered journalist Pearce Robinson to pay $250,000 in damages to a Ministry of National Security employee over allegations made in a 2024 Facebook Live broadcast. The court also barred Robinson from republishing the statements and ordered him to pay more than $47,000 in legal costs.
Justice Westmin James ruled in favor of Tonja-Melanie Mannette, whose defamation claim arose from a 49-minute broadcast Robinson posted on Facebook on March 14, 2024. The broadcast discussed alleged links between Strategic Services Agency employees and the Jerusalem Bride Church and presented the claims as part of an alleged effort to destabilize the country. Mannette, whose name was mentioned once, was identified as an SSA employee and church member.
Robinson defended the lawsuit by arguing that his report was based on information from National Security Council discussions, reports concerning changes at the SSA and confidential sources. He also relied on defenses including qualified privilege and argued that the broadcast addressed matters of public interest. The court, however, found that he had not sufficiently verified the allegations before identifying Mannette and had not given her an opportunity to respond.
The judge awarded Mannette $200,000 in general damages and an additional $50,000 in aggravated damages. The court also considered that the publication remained available for an extended period and that Robinson had removed it after being threatened with legal action. The judge did not order Robinson to issue a public apology or retraction.
The judgment also included a permanent injunction preventing Robinson from republishing the defamatory allegations unless the publication is protected by a lawful defense or is based on materially different facts arising after the judgment. Robinson was separately ordered to pay $47,131.85 in legal costs.
The case follows wider scrutiny of the Strategic Services Agency in 2024. Then-Prime Minister Keith Rowley announced an audit of the agency’s operations after information was provided to the National Security Council by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. The SSA’s then-head, Maj. Roger Best, was removed, while several officials were reassigned. Criminal charges against some officials related to alleged prohibited weapons offenses were later dismissed after delays in prosecution, according to the Trinidad Guardian.
Mannette also has a separate lawsuit pending concerning her transfer to the National Security Training Academy. She was represented in the defamation case by attorneys Farai Hove-Masaisai, Mpule Williams and Chelsea Edwards, while Robinson was represented by attorney Nera Narine-Mollick.
Sources: Trinidad Guardian, Trinidad Express and the High Court judgment in Mannette v. Robinson.