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The montage image shows the defendant, Catisha Pierre-Jack, left, and the complainant, her sister, Crystal Pierre.
The montage image shows the defendant, Catisha Pierre-Jack, left, and the complainant, her sister, Crystal Pierre.
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History was created in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Monday when a woman pleaded guilty to four counts of libel by electronic communication, brought under the nation’s controversial cybercrime law.

Catisha Pierre-Jack, a woman from Lower Questelles, who is in her late 20s, pleaded guilty to the charges when she was arraigned before Senior Magistrate Rickie Burnett at the Kingstown Magistrate Court.

She is accused of having made the comments about her older sister, Crystal Pierre, who filed a report with police.

Pierre-Jack was booked on four charges related to four posts she admitted to having made on the social networking website, Facebook on Jan. 30.

She, however, told the magistrate that while she made the posts, the contents complained of are true.

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The accused woman told the court that she had a witness who would testify that what she had said in the posts is true.

However, the senior magistrate adjourned the hearing of the facts and sentencing until Friday.

He said that he needed some time to do some research on the law, noting that it was the first time that such a matter was being brought before the court.

The accused woman is facing a penalty of up to EC$50,000 and two years imprisonment.

The cybercrime law was passed in 2016 amidst local, regional and international outcry.

7 replies on “Woman pleads guilty to cybercrime charges in St. Vincent”

  1. Ricardo Francis says:

    There is something very fishy about this matter.

    Here are some of my questions:

    1. Who are these two women?

    2. What is their history?

    3.Why go to the Police?

    4. Are they trying to make legal history in St. Vincent and the Grenadines?

    5. What political party do they support?

    6. What exactly did this woman say?

    7. Why was it said?

    8. When was it said and how was it said?

    9. What was the intent of the statements?

    10. Was it defamatory?

    11. Where is the legal test for defamation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines?

    12 . Were mens rea and actus reus met within the legal definition and the required case law to substantiate same?

    13. Is Rickie Burnett a lawyer?

    14. Where did he attend law school?

    15. When was he called to the bar?

    16. Is Rickie Burnett a member of the order?

    17. How many of the political and legal elites are members of the order?

    18. What is the salary of a magistrate in St. Vincent and the Grenadines?

    19. Is this woman going to be sent to the mental home, also?

    20. Does she have legal representation?

    21. Is this a very dysfunctional family with different political views?

    22. Is this malicious prosecution?

    As for Rickie Burnett, I have no confidence in his rulings. His ruling concerning Yugge Farrell in my view is still questionable. Is he a member of the ULP? Was his appointment political? Clearly, he demonstrated arrogance about his appointment: he knew that he would get the job. I guest he got his job the same way that Karen Gonsalves got her jobs. Karen Gonsalves job constitute a CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

    There is the moral, the ethical, the political and the legal questions respecting so many issues in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

    The whole judicial system in St. Vincent and the Grenadines needs an overhaul. The interpretation of laws in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is muddied with political interference.

    This CYBERCRIME LAW needs to be re-assessed and or repealed.

    I will never encourage anyone to plead guilty since everything is demonstrably justifiable in accordance with the prescription of the RULE OF LAW, in a free and democratic society. THEN AGAIN, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is not a free country.

    Ralph Gonsalves hopes that I am unable to get a law degree for he knows exactly where I will be right now.

    As for the opposition leader Friday, you are still unable to do the job. I am the only person who can bring down Ralph Gonsalves and the ULP with the blessing of God and the beautiful and god fearing people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Ralph knows it and has been trying to demobilize and de-stabilize me for years. I am very fearless.

    George Orwell must be rolling in his grave for we are living in the manuscript of 1984. I must say, you had great vision, good old chap.

    The good lord knows that I have so many more questions and so many more opinions. I am very grateful to the good lord for blessing me with the gift of fearlessness. The good lord knows that the good people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is tired of Pharoah and his entourage.

    Again, Ralph Gonsalves, I ask: why are you so afraid to make public comments about me?

    God Save Us All!

    Ricardo Francis, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in Waiting and in the Making.

  2. At least it is good that this crackpot law from our corrupt lawyer politicians is getting some attention. Too bad we cannot just put all the corrupt lawyers in jail or send them to the USA and we just keep the good ones. This case may show more corruption in the SVG “just us” system, just as it exposed a corrupt judge and politician lawyers in the Yugge Farrell case.

  3. Nice sisters. Well brought up. If she is claiming what she said was true, why is she pleading guilty – and why is the court accepting her plea?

  4. I was not aware of the cyber law in SVG. Some on sent me a treat on face book and I was advised to report to the police in SVG but I did not. Can I still file a complaint? I still have the post saved. Whenever I go to the area I am always looking over my shoulder to make sure I am safe.

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