Gordon John Manché in failed court attempt to stop satirical depiction

Pastor Gordon John Manché has failed in an attempt to stop producers of the show Min Imissu from including in a satirical programme characters which are based on him and his wife.

Manché and his wife took the producers of the show to court, claiming that the show Min Imissu Live Comedy, due to be staged over the weekend, features two characters, Jordan and Tariella Whiteman, which were meant to ridicule the real-life couple.

The court, presided by Magistrate Anthony Ellul, saw that Manché has been producing religious programmes on television which freely expressed his opinions on homosexuality. These ideas had been controversial, which led to the Min Imissu producers basing the comical characters on Manché and his wife.

There had to be a balance between preserving a person’s honour and dignity, and the right to freedom of expression, the court said. One had to respect others’ creative talents, and the contribution which these types of shows gave to society, it maintained. Moreover, Manché’s wife was also a public person, it said.

While Manché had the right to his personal beliefs, the court did not deem it necessary to issue an inhibition mandate to stop the show from going forward with the characters mentioned included, and thus decided that the show could go ahead with the Whiteman characters included.