GIVE A MAN ENOUGH ROPE AND HE WILL HANG HIMSELF – PERCY AH-MANE DOES IT YET AGAIN!

GIVE A MAN ENOUGH ROPE AND HE WILL HANG HIMSELF – PERCY AH-MANE DOES IT YET AGAIN!

Percy Ah-Mane and friend.

Percy Ah-Mahe, the Editor of the “The Independent” has, like the phoenix, a knack to burn and self destruct at will. After his original newspaper was closed down by lawsuits and damages worth several hundreds of thousands of rupees were awarded against him, he re-invented himself with the present “The Independent” after successfully evading payments of damages by pleading poverty and inability to pay. Sir James Mancham and France Bonte are but only a few of the persons who were defamed by Ah-Mane and were subsequently awarded substantial damages by the Supreme Court against him.

Percy Ah-Mane, it seems, is incapable of keeping himself out of trouble and he is yet again at the centre of a furore after he depicted Wavel Ramkalawan and Paul Chow in a compromising sexual position in a lame attempt at satire. The cartoon which has been aptly described as “controversial” and “distasteful” has now been removed from circulation by the police. There is now general consensus that the cartoon is in poor taste and may offend public morality and decency. Both Chow and Ramkalawan have lodged criminal complaints with the police and Ah-Mane, who is not new to controversy, may soon be charged with a Section 152 (1) read with S152 (2) (a) offence under the Penal Code (Amendment) Act 1996 which provides that: A person who for the purpose or by way of trade …puts in circulation any indecent material is guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for five years.

Section 152 (2) provides: In this section “indecent material” means (a) any indecent or obscene writing, photograph, sketch, drawing or picture, including whether partly or wholly generated by computer. This is exactly what he did when he drew the cartoon, superimposed Chow’s and Ramkalawan’s heads over them and published them for good measure in “The Independent”. The irony is that this time around Ah-Mane may have bitten more than he can chew as everybody agrees that the cartoon is disgusting and in poor taste. The sad thing is that Ah-Mane may drag the publisher, printec and his financier and benefactor, with him as well as the retailers who sell his newspaper. Chow and Ramkalawan as well as Ralph Volcere have instructed lawyers to file defamation suits against Ah-Mane, Printec, his financier, company and shops selling his paper. The law suit which is expected to result in thousands of rupees in cost, legal fees and substantial damages may bring several people down when the dust settles.

Ah-Mane is apparently in hiding after news of his impending arrest was inadvertently leaked to him. It remains to be seen whether he would survive the furore he has unleashed by his cartoon, giving credence to the timeless adage “a picture speaks a thousand words.”