Kian Jabour’s ex-partner feels vindicated after court rules her complaints of abuse were not defamatory
As he protests calling for accountability after the Mahdia dorm fire, politician/businessman Kian Jabour’s ex-partner has come out to call his actions hypocritical and lacking moral authority as she speaks out after the High Court ruled that her complaints of abuse were not defamatory or libelous.
Three years ago, a video posted on Facebook showed Jabour verbally abusing the woman, Saleema Haniff, saying she was mentally unstable when she tried to get him to move his Taco Loco restaurant from her family’s property at Thomas Street, Georgetown.
The woman withdrew the case, but Jabour took her to court, suing for defamation, but the High Court has dismissed the case, ordering Jabour to pay costs of $250,000.
Now, Haniff has written a letter to the press after Jabour staged a picketing exercise regarding the Mahdia fire. Her letter is below:
Dear Editor,
I believe that for someone to fight for justice, they themselves should practice fairness. A hypocrite of injustice refers to someone who claims to stand against injustice or unfairness but engages in hypocritical behavior themselves. This person may espouse the values of equality, justice, and fairness publicly but fails to apply those principles in their own actions or behavior. Kian Jabour is fighting for justice, while being the epitome of those qualities of a hypocrite.
Three years ago, Jabour sued me for defamation after I publicly spoke about my experiences with him. In the Facebook post I was sued for, I called him an abuser, liar, bully, and robber amongst many other things. I was sued after I was threatened many times by Jabour to remove my post. Today, I received a winning verdict.
At trial, Jabour was questioned about the verbal abuse that was seen in many screenshot conversations between him and myself. In the screenshots he said to me, “I will eff your life up until you have to leave this country”, “you are a stupid little girl”, “I will teach you a lesson.” When asked in Court if he thought those statements were abusive, he said that he did not think they were abusive.
The libel case is worthy of mention in some detail. It was characterized by astonishing evidence. Jabour under cross-examination by my lawyer, Mr Sanjeev Datadin, could not recall when he graduated high school. He could not recall what exactly he studied at university and where is his degree nor the years he went to university. He could not recall any teacher/ professor or any fellow student. He alleged he was hired by a company to work in Guyana called Global Elite and as a result of what I posted on Facebook, he was fired. He claimed to be paid $US 1,100.00 per week. Yet could not produce no tax returns, no bank payment, no registration of the company in Guyana. It was clear that it was a lie constructed, once again, to defend himself. It did not take much for the judge to see through the lies and dismissed the case against me.
At the trial, he could not produce an employment contract from Global Elite,a letter of termination, or any payment receipt. Instead, he claimed that it was a verbal agreement and the “owner”, Mr. Tim Shaw, paid him whenever he would come to visit Guyana from Canada. He was also questioned about his role in this company, which he claimed to be a consultant who would find people locally to work for other companies owned by Mr. Shaw. When asked to produce the number of people he hired and/or one name of someone he recruited, he could not do so. Jabour said,” I would discover them through social networking, it was just word of mouth”. When asked about what kind of jobs these people would have to do, he could not say.
Mr. Shaw was also questioned in Court on these matters and could not produce any paper record of employment, letter of termination, payment slips, or bank transaction. Shaw also claimed that “Global Elite” is incorporated in Trinidad where he is a shareholder. He could not produce a Shareholder Certificate, instead, he said that he did a lot of handshake deals. Shaw and Jabour did not file any Tax return in Guyana or Trinidad nor pay NIS. There was no declaration in accordance with Canadian law, no taxes paid, no employee declaration; nothing!
His most recent allegation of abuse was also brought before the Court, where Jabour was seen in a video circulated on social media verbally and physically abusing his girlfriend by trying to forcefully take her phone, which he later broke. She also made a public post where she expressed the physical and verbal abuse, she faced from Jabour. Regardless of their current understanding, it does not take away from the fact of what was said about him by her and what he was alleged to have done.
Jabour also broke into my family property by bringing a court order that never suggested that he can enter our property and remove restaurant equipment. He was accompanied by two police officers who served a document to my father, in my absence. They alleged it gave them the right to enter our property. The document never gave them permission to remove things from our property. This is not the first time Jabour broke into our property by breaking padlocks when we were not there and removed things that did not belong to him.
Other than the defamation lawsuit, Jabour also sued me for equity to my family’s property. He thought he somehow had rights and ownership to it. This was the first thing Chief Justice Roxanne George dismissed as she too wondered why he would claim something so ridiculous.
Jabour also filed an ex-parte injunction, while I was out of the country, to prevent me from entering my own home. I only recently found out about this during our court case. It was ex parte so I did not have to appear in court. However, it was immediately dismissed, which he later appealed, and was again immediately dismissed.
It was found by the judge that what I said in my post is not defamatory and Jabour must pay $250,000 as it says in the court order.
My father, who has helped him in many ways, has also faced torment and bullying from Jabour before he passed. I will not let what he has done silently pass by. He made it public when he sued me so I believe the results should be too. He is merely someone who is trying to gain power and publicity so that he can do this to someone else. A leader should be a person of high moral character, someone who leads by example and upholds ethical principles. Unfortunately, Jabour has repeatedly shown a disregard for honesty, often resorting to deceit and manipulation to achieve his goals.
How can someone who has a history of breaking the law and tries to claim your property, break into your home, try to prevent you from entering your own home, make multiple false police claims, and abuses (amongst many other things), try to lecture about justice? It’s comical and he bears no trait to be a leader.
If he is claiming that he didn’t lose, he can appeal the decision to dismiss his libel case. It’s simple and I would look forward to it.
Lastly, I would like to thank my lawyer, Sanjeev Datadin, who has immensely helped me through this process.
Sincerely,
Saleema Haniff
