With hours away before voting begins in a snap general election, a Christ Church man found himself before the law courts for posting a viral video on social media falsely claiming that Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate Wilfred Abrahams sent him cash in an election envelope.
His later claim that the post was a joke came too late for him to avoid being arrested and charged with malicious communication under the Computer Misuse Act.
Akeem Renaldo Durant, 27, of Breedy Land, Christ Church, pleaded guilty to the charge on Tuesday, after making a video post targeting Abrahams, the BLP candidate for Christ Church East.
The offence, which occurred on Monday, involved a viral video showing Durant opening an election circular purportedly from the candidate containing hundred and fifty-dollar bills. Durant claimed the money came in the same envelope from Abrahams.
He later posted another video retracting the allegation, describing his action as a joke and apologising, but the crime had already been committed, and was arrested on Monday.
Durant appeared before Chief Magistrate Deidre McKenna in the Oistins Magistrates’ Court. He is scheduled to return on Monday for sentencing.
The convicted man was granted bail in the sum of $5 000 with one surety.
Responding to the incident, Abrahams told Barbados TODAY he was hurt by the post, arguing that the video not only threatened his reputation but that of his party colleagues who helped prepare the campaign material.
He said: “The bottom line is, this is not just Wilfred Abrahams, this is impugning the integrity of the volunteers who helped stuff the envelopes… I didn’t have anything to do with the circular. It impugned the integrity of the BLP campaign, it impugned the integrity of our electoral system. And if you bear in mind that we have independent observers here, observing the elections, that is not the sort of thing you want out there, because it portrays Barbados in a bad light, and it is not true.
“We need to be very careful about the things we put out there. I am glad that the public overwhelmingly responded: ‘No, that’s not Abrahams. We don’t believe he would do something like that.’ But equally, had it been somebody else, then it would have totally devastated that person.”
He continued: “I was hurt. It forced me… I lost most of today dealing with the Press, dealing with the police, dealing with all sorts of things. On a day right before elections, when I should be concentrating on the little fine-tunings, I had to get other people to do that while I handled something that shouldn’t have happened.”
Abrahams, a lawyer and home affairs minister in the last hours of the Mottley administration, said he thanked God that his reputation stood strong, “otherwise that could have completely derailed my campaign”.
He said: “I am glad for the support shown to me by my constituents and other people who reached out with some very encouraging messages, telling me things like: ‘Abrahams, we’ve got your back. God don’t like ugly. Don’t mind that; carry on; don’t get distracted.’
“The support for me was honestly overwhelming. I probably was never so supported in myself as over the last 24 hours. People have to understand that decisions have consequences. When you put something out there on the Internet, you have no idea how far it’s going to reach. That video made the rounds; I can’t believe how widely that was shared.”
The Christ Church East BLP candidate also said he received support from overseas, noting that the incident could easily have destroyed his reputation.
Under section 14 of the Computer Misuse Act, sending an electronic message or other communication that is either indecent, obscene, contains a threat, or is menacing in character, is considered malicious communication. The message must not merely be false but could be intended to “cause or being reckless as to whether they cause annoyance, inconvenience, distress or anxiety to the recipient or another person”. The offence carries a fine of up to $50 000, or up to five years’ imprisonment, or both.
The post Social media ‘joke’ turns into criminal conviction hours before polls open appeared first on Barbados Today.
