The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL and SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporters

FORMER Mount Moriah MP Keod Smith’s attorney Derek Ryan said he is ready to vigorously defend his client against accusations fielded against him.

Smith was yesterday arraigned before Acting Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson Pratt on three charges: Assault, threats of harm and causing $881 in damages to a rental car.

He pleaded not guilty to all three charges, which stem from an alleged incident at Jaws Beach, Clifton, on April 25.

A short time later, human rights lawyer and environment activist Fred Smith, QC, appeared before magistrates and pleaded not guilty to causing harm to another man.

It was alleged that on April 25, at Jaws Beach, Smith intentionally and unlawfully caused harm to Mario Joffer - that he knocked him down.

Flanked by dozens of supporters, Fred Smith appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson Pratt in court number 9, Nassau Street.

He was represented by six attorneys - John Bostwick Sr, John Bostwick Jr, Ronald Ferreira, Roderick Dawson Malone, Martin L Lundy and Harvey Tynes, QC.

Smith told the court he felt like he was being victimised and discriminated against by the government.

Magistrate Ferguson Pratt told him ‘it was not the time’ and she simply needed him to plead to the charges. He pleaded not guilty.

John Bostwick Sr asked that Smith be released on his own recognizance, as he is a “reputable citizen of society”. The prosecution did not object and Smith was granted $500 bail.

Outside the courtroom, Smith said the government “will pay” for his embarrassment.
He said: “I am being politically victimised by the PLP. I am innocent. I was the victim of an attack at Jaws Beach and it shocks the living daylights out of me that the police and the government, and I say the government because Allyson Maynard Gibson is the Attorney General and she, under the constitution, has ultimate responsibility for prosecutions, she has chosen to victimise me by this criminal prosecution. I have an unblemished 35 year career as an officer of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Bahama,” he said.

“It is a disgrace to subject me to this embarrassment. I thought the government would know better. They are persecuting me and prosecuting me. I was escaping with my life, so it has become a criminal offence in the Bahamas for people to escape being killed. That is what is happening today and I put this squarely at the feet of the PLP governing party.”

At his hearing the court decided Keod Smith was a prominent figure in the community, and determined he was not a flight risk nor would he evade the law. He was released on $1500 bail.

Speaking after his hearing, he told journalists the case would not offset his plans to continue fighting for what he believed ‘was right.’

He said: “I am not altering my cause or retreating (or) backing down. I am going all the way to ensure that those who need to be exposed with what they were trying to do with Clifton this time around - that they are exposed.

“I fought to save the land 15 years ago. I was a part of putting together the legislation to create the statutory trust that we actually have the property for Bahamians.

“This accusation that Mr Fred Smith has made against me is not going to deter me one single bit. Not one single bit.”

Keod Smith must return to the court on November 20 and 21.

Fred Smith must return to court on December 10 and 11 at 11am.