The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

SAVE The Bays Director Joseph Darville has said in a newly filed Supreme Court affidavit that the recent public disclosure of STB members’ personal emails by a member of Parliament is “extremely distressing” as it was an invasion of privacy that has left all involved feeling violated.

Mr Darville, in his affidavit, said the distress of STB members has been exacerbated by the fact that the organisation does not know the source of the leak. He said this has created an atmosphere of uncertainty.

The document was submitted yesterday as a part of a continuance for an injunction against the further sale or publication of documents relating to Zack Bacon, Fred Smith, QC, the environmental organisation and its directors. The continuance prevents persons known and unknown from presenting further private information about STB.

The initial injunction obtained by STB on March 18 would have expired yesterday.

“I believe there is no public interest in the information that justifies the breach of our rights in this way,” the affidavit read. “To read in, for example, the article entitled ‘Fitzgerald: Emails came from political garbage can’ that Mr Fitzgerald has recently said that he has in his possession, and is prepared to disclose other material relating to STB is extremely disconcerting.

“Knowing that someone may be unlawfully accessing private emails that have been exchanged between me and STB’s directors makes me feel that there is a risk anything we write could appear in the public domain. I am deeply troubled by the loss of control over our private and confidential matters as well as the feeling that further confidential material maybe published at any moment,” Mr Darville said.

He went on to clarify a recent public statement in response to Data Protection Commissioner Sharmie Farrington-Austin’s cautioning against the practice of obtaining private citizens’ correspondence and tabling them in the House of Assembly. In a press statement last week she said it is “a most dangerous trend and leaves society open to chaos.”

At the time Mr Darville thanked the data commissioner for her statement and said certain government MPs sought to attack STB in the most cowardly manner, from behind the protection of parliamentary privilege where they are immune from legal action. He said they would not dare to do the same in the street for fear of prosecution.

“As I mentioned in a recent public statement, STB has never ‘called for all personal information to be in the public domain.’ Rather we vigorously campaign for a Freedom of Information Act on the basis that the government’s activities should be transparent. Otherwise corruption can thrive, especially given there is no requirement in the Bahamas to disclose political donations.”

He said: “MPs occupy a position of trust within society and should not misuse the immunity afforded by parliamentary privilege to deliberately disclose information to the world that they know, or ought to know, is confidential, with the intention of injuring their perceived opponents.

“It is my view that the source(s) of the leaked information needs to be identified and held accountable for their actions, so as to ensure that our people do not think they can breach an individual’s privacy rights without facing serious consequences.

“If we have truly reached a stage where nothing can remain ‘secret’ in The Bahamas, as Mr Fitzgerald has alleged, then we line in one of the most oppressive nations in the world. I do not believe this to be the case, however, and will continue to fight for privacy rights.”

In the House of Assembly last month, Marathon MP Jerome Fitzgerald alleged that members of STB were engaged in a well-financed plot to destabilise the government, and he disclosed email messages about their activities to substantiate his point.

Before this, Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell also spoke at length accusing STB of funneling millions of dollars from billionaire hedge fund manager Louis Bacon to fund a vicious campaign against the government.

They have both denied having “unauthorised” access to the emails and have stressed that his actions were protected by parliamentary privilege. Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller also said in Parliament last month that five STB executives were collectively paid more than $740,000 a year.