~ Statements made against Ottley were made to harm Ottley. Ordered to rectify or face penalty ~
PHILIPSBURG: --- A packed courtroom with relatives and supporters of Minister of VSA Omar Ottley witnessed as the judge ruled against Olivier Arrindell on Friday morning.
Arrindell was ordered to make specific rectifications within 24 hours of the verdict being served to him or face a penalty of USD. 5000. Daily with a maximum of USD 500.000.
The court orders Arrindel to remove and keep removing from all social media online sites, including and in particular WhatsApp group, within 24 hours of the date of the judgment, the statements in which he accuses Ottley of being corrupt, of being a criminal and falsely accused Ottley of committing criminal offenses, under penalty of a fine of US$ 5,000 per day up to a maximum of US$500,000;
The court ordered Arrindel! to refrain, with immediate effect from the judgment, from making misleading, inaccurate, and/or unsubstantiated public statements about Ottley in any way whatsoever, or at least to make unnecessarily hurtful and insulting remarks about Ottley, or at least to prohibit any public unsubstantiated allegations or accusations against Ottley related to the allegations or accusations already made by him, on pain of forfeiture of a penalty of US$ 5,000 per day to a maximum of US$ 500,000.5,000 per day up to a maximum of US$ 500,000;
On the third count, the court ordered Arrindel to disseminate the following text via its social media channels, more specifically via WhatsApp, within 24 hours of service of the judgment and ordered Arrindell to provide a copy of this rectification notice to Ottley's legal representative.
"Rectification:
Recently I repeatedly have made a lot of public statements regarding Omar Ottley being guilty of corruption, money laundering, being a thief, and a criminal. I Olivier Arrindell would like to announce that all these accusations and or allegations are.
untrue, false, and unfounded as I do not have any proof to substantiate these serious accusations and or allegations. I merely intended to harm Minister Ottley with these accusations. I hereby sincerely apologize for making these accusations and I would like to retract all I have said", all this on pain of forfeiture of a penalty of US$ 5,000 per day up to a maximum of US$ 500,000.
The court further orders Arrindell to pay the costs of the proceedings, assessed to date at NAf 3,699.50 on the part of Ottley, to be paid within five-ten days of the date of the judgment if payment is not made within this period, plus statutory interest.
The court also orders Arrindell to pay the post-judgment costs in respect of the attorney's fee, calculated at a flat rate of NAf 250.00 without service of notice, plus NA£ 150.00 in the event of service of notice.
Click here for the verdict delivered on Friday, November 24th,
Live Reaction from Ottley after the verdict on Friday morning.https://www.facebook.com/reel/890864955827049
Online Translation of Verdict.
