The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

HUMAN rights lawyer and environment activist Fred Smith, QC, appeared before magistrates yesterday and pleaded not guilty to causing harm to another man.

It was alleged that on April 25, 2013 at Clifton, Smith intentionally and unlawfully caused harm to Mario Joffer.

Flanked by dozens of supporters, 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.

The charge stems from an alleged incident at Jaws Beach. Smith’s alleged victim claims Smith knocked him down.

Smith told the court that 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 plea 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.

He is expected to return to court on December 10 and 11 at 11am for a hearing.

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.”