Chief Justice Ivor Archie has dismissed as “false and fabricated insinuation” a newspaper report over the last weekend that criminal elements were boasting of being in possession of sensitive photographs and video clips of his private life.
In a statement issued by the Judiciary’s Court Protocol and Information Unit dismissing the Sunday Express newspaper article, the Chief Justice he had also taken note of the “now transparent recurring modus operandi of seeking to hound him out of office using tired tactics of innuendo with reliance and comment on that innuendo.
“These tactics surely cause one to wonder and ask who so desperately wants this Chief Justice out of office and why? While the Chief Justice supports a free and independent press, he calls upon all media organisations to perform their duties and functions responsibly and in the public interest and to avoid muckraking.”
“The Chief Justice wishes to state that he rejects as false yet again the recycled innuendos published in the Sunday Express dated 14 October 201,” the statement noted.
In its article, the newspaper reported there were certain people in possession of private photos and videos of the Chief Justice.
In the statement issued late on Tuesday evening, the Chief Justice said he also “categorically rejects the false and fabricated insinuation that he has ever sought to influence any judicial officer in their sentencing or other judicial function.”
The embattled Chief Justice had earlier this year challenged the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) investigation of allegations of misconduct against him.
But the matter was dismissed by both the Court of Appeal and the London-based privy Council, which serves as the highest court, paving the way for the association to continue with its investigation.
