Two months ago, we told you about the lawsuit which Senator Godwin Hulse brought against former Opposition Leader Francis Fonseca. Hulse sued Fonseca for defamation of character because he believes that Fonseca injured his personal reputation for some comments made during a press conference from October 2013.
That was the time when the Citizen Kim passport scandal was raging. The PUP Leader painted new Minister Godwin Hulse with the very same, very dirty brush he used on Elvin Penner - who had facilitated a fraudulent nationality certificate and a fraudulent passport for Kim.
Hulse sued him for it, and today was supposed to have been their first day of trial before Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin. But, instead of getting into legal arguments, the attorneys for both men, informed the court that they have arrived at an out-of-court settlement. Fonseca will apologize for the comments, and it will be published in 3 major newspapers, but he won't have to pay damages to Hulse. He will only have to pay Hulse's court costs of $3,000.
So, what changed between November and today? Well, that's what we asked Fonseca's attorney, Kareem Musa, who told us on the last occasion his client's defense against the defamation claim is fair comment, and that Fonseca's words were true. Musa told us today, that Fonseca weighed the litigation risk, and decided that an apology is better route. He described why:
Hon. Kareem Musa, Attorney for Francis Fonseca
"The parties have been in discussions for quite some time regarding a possible out of court settlement. This is a defamation case brought by Mr. Hulse in relation to a statement made by the Hon. Francis Fonseca in October of 2013. The matter, like I said has been under discussion for quite some time now and we were able to arrive at a settlement that I believe all parties can walk away feeling a bit satisfied."
"As you know there is give and take when it comes to a settlement agreement and judgement and awards being what they are today when it comes to defamation lawsuits. I think the damages ranges anywhere between $20,000-$60,000. I think one case in Belize actually went as high as $60,000 for damages and so there has to be a give and take whenever you are having a settlement on a defamation lawsuit and so the outcome of today was that the Hon. Francis Fonseca will not have to pay any damages for the comments that he made, but he has agreed to issue a public retraction and apology to Senator Hulse. It is an instance I think it could have gone either way and I think, like I said, that is why you have some give and take and the Hon. Francis Fonseca has no issue apologizing for a matter that may have offended Mr. Hulse."
"That is what will take place. He will issue a public retraction and apology. He does not have to pay any damages for the comments made, but he will pay the legal cost of $3,000 to Mr. Hulse's attorney."
So, is the public apology enough for Godwin Hulse? That's what we asked him today via telephone, and he said that all he wanted is for Fonseca to publicly take back what he said:
Hon. Godwin Hulse, Former Minister of Immigration
"I have work throughout my life to maintain my dignity and my reputation and I have never, will never and ever participate in any on the hand illegal or illicit activity whatsoever. It's just not me and I am not driven by the dollar bill, so to speak. So those statements I really found terribly disturbing and downright wrong and downright improper and that is why I took the action to have them corrected."
Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"Why did you decide to settle as compared to pressing the court?"
Hon. Godwin Hulse, Former Minister of Immigration
"I am not one of those ones that are driven by huge compensations for whatever. I needed the Hon. Francis Fonseca to retract those statements in a firm definitive and clear way to the public of Belize and to the people. That was really my goal. You have to go through a legal process to get that done and I did not intend of course to have it cost me to go that legal process. So I am good with that."
"I am not the kind of person who holds any kind of malice or animosity to anyone. Statements are uttered every time on Facebook and you can't pick at every statements that's issued or uttered and there are people who will believe and not believe and not everybody is privy to their own view. But when it comes to my reaction and relationship with people at that level, I have no animosity or malice at all. So we continue to be amicable and to have normal discussion in the course of matters that concerns the country."
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