In a complaint for defamation filed in the Supreme Court on January 29, Johnson Roussety is claiming Rs 5 million in damages from OPR leader Francisco François; from the Minority Leader of the Regional Assembly, Franchette Gaspard-Pierre Louis; and from Serge Clair, honorary leader of the OPR. Johnson Roussety explains in his complaint that the Facebook page “I LOVE RADIO” serves as a political platform for the Rodrigues People’s Organization (OPR).
The chief commissioner of Rodrigues states in his complaint that the Mauritius meteorological station issued a heavy rain watch for Rodrigues at 4 a.m. on January 16. Later, at 11 a.m., a heavy rainfall warning was issued for the same day. He maintains that weather forecasts are used as guidelines to decide whether classes should be maintained in Rodrigues. He also points out that there are no official guidelines concerning this decision.
Johnson Roussety claims to have decided to maintain classes after the heavy rain watch, but that he then feared for the safety of pupils after a heavy rain warning was announced at 11am and pupils were asked to return home. He claims to have monitored the situation closely and taken the decision to ensure the safety of the students, and fortunately no incidents were reported.
However, in his complaint, Johnson Roussety mentions that during a press conference broadcast live on I LOVE RADIO’s Facebook page on January 19, Franchette Gaspard-Pierre Louis allegedly made comments against him, which he deems false, malicious and defamatory. He believes that these allegations were intended to humiliate him, in particular by evoking criminal acts against children linked to his decision to maintain classes on January 16.
Johnson Roussety claims that these comments have caused him prejudice, hence his claim for damages of Rs 5 million.
