A critical ruling on whether the cybercrime charge against photographer Keron Bruce can proceed will be handed down on November 1 by Magistrate Sunil Scarce.
Bruce, 35, of Lot 295 Soesdyke Back Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD), is facing a charge under the Cybercrime Act at the Diamond-Golden Grove Magistrates’ Courts.
He is accused of being the person behind the social media cartoon character “Mudwata” which, according to the Police, has made slanderous publications about several persons.
It is alleged that on January 25, 2021, at Soesdyke, EBD, he used a computer to disseminate information about Journalist Leroy Smith, knowing same to be false. Police are alleging that the information subjected Smith to public ridicule, contempt, hatred, and embarrassment.
The charge was filed earlier this year and Bruce was released on $100,000 bail after denying it.
However, his lawyer, Bernard Da Silva has raised issues regarding the statute of limitations – the law prescribing a period of limitation for bringing the charge.
When the case was called earlier this week, the Prosecutor laid over submissions to the court on the issue. This was also done prior by Bruce’s counsel. As such, Magistrate Scarce is expected to hand down his ruling on the legal issue on November 1.
Bruce was arrested and subsequently charged after Smith alleged that he was being relentlessly attacked by the cartoon character on Facebook and other social media platforms.
Back in January, Police arrested Bruce and several other persons on allegations of the cartoon character slandering persons. Police Headquarters said that ranks seized several pieces of equipment from a DD Eccles, EBD home.
In addition, several voice messages were collected, which, when analysed, matched with the “Mudwata” commentary, Police Headquarters had said.
Bruce’s arrest came days after Smith, owner and managing editor of the online media outlet BIG SMITH News Watch, offered a $1 million reward for reliable information that would lead to the proper identification of the cartoon character.
Smith had made this offer after a video aggressively attacking him was posted by “Mudwata” on Facebook and YouTube.
After Bruce’s arrest, Smith had stated that several persons had come forward with information about the cartoon character. As such, a court order was issued to search Bruce’s house for any evidence that would pin him to the character.
The Police are obliged under the provisions of the Cyber Crime Act 2018 – legislation that was passed under the previous A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government – to investigate any report made with respect to cyberbullying.
Meanwhile, in February of this year, Bruce filed a $101 million libel suit against Mikhail Rodrigues, better known as the “Guyanese Critic”, whom he has accused of slandering him.
In that lawsuit, filed at the Demerara High Court, Bruce claims that, on January 29, Rodrigues, via a Facebook Live which attracted 761 comments, 933 reactions, 33,000 views, and 91 shares, Rodrigues made several false and defamatory statements about him being the person behind “Mudwata”.
Insisting that he and the “Mudwata” character are not “one and the same”, Bruce said Rodrigues had not presented any credible evidence to the contrary, and, therefore, this could not be a “matter of fact”, since this had not been proven in a court of law.
Bruce alleged that Rodrigues’s utterances were for the sole purpose of increasing views, financial gain, followers, reactions, and for his own personal clout.
According to him, Rodrigues’s comments have caused irrevocable damage to his reputation, and have subjected him to public ridicule, contempt, hatred, and embarrassment, and have also brought his career into disrepute.
The photographer told the High Court that he was so fearful for his life that he has hired a 24-hour security service to protect himself and his family, because Rodrigues has threatened to “show up” at his home and go live on Facebook.
Apart from the monetary award for damages, Bruce is asking the court to order Rodrigues to publish, or cause to be published, an apology to him.
He is also seeking a permanent injunction restraining Rodrigues from publishing, or causing to be published, the posts or similar words which are defamatory to him.
