The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

EDUCATION Minister Jerome Fitzgerald says he plans to appeal the ruling handed down by Supreme Court judge Justice Indra Charles in the Save The Bays email hacking scandal yesterday.

Insisting on his innocence, the Marathon MP said he is eager to see the judge’s written ruling on what grounds she ruled he breached the constitutional rights of environmental advocacy group Save The Bays by disclosing private emails in Parliament.

“I want to read the judgment to see what evidence was put forth by those who brought the claim and based on that, I would be in a better position to respond,” Mr Fitzgerald said outside yesterday’s Cabinet session.

“I have been informed about the ruling. I haven’t actually seen the ruling yet, (but) I am interested to find out what basis the court found that I obtained information illegally. I have maintained all along I did not obtain any information illegally.

“We will see where it goes. I will review it and the AG’s office is reviewing it. But, at the end of the day, it seems to me that there has been a lot of trouble and money spent to keep me quiet and it is going to be curious to see what the reasons behind all of that is. We will see how it goes.

“Well, I think I have made point clear that I have said what I had to say, it is before the House and we will see where it goes from here,” he added.

Refusing to speculate on the matter further, Mr Fitzgerald contended that the Save The Bays organisation spent a lot of money to keep him quiet, adding that he was “curious to see what the reasons behind all of that is”.

He alleged that in excess of $1million was spent by the Save The Bays organisation to pursue the matter in court.

Justice Charles in her ruling yesterday, found that Mr Fitzgerald’s actions in acquiring, disclosing and releasing specifically Save The Bays internal emails were not legally justified and therefore he cannot be protected by parliamentary privilege.

As a result, she ordered that he pay $150,000 in damages for the breach and barred him from any further disclosures or publications of information belonging to the Save The Bays organisation.

Mr Fitzgerald was also ordered to delete all materials in his possession within 14 days.

Following Justice Charles’ decision, a document disseminated by Bahamas Information Services verified that at the request of the Attorney General, a stay of her entire decision was granted by the Supreme Court maintaining the “status quo” pending a hearing and determination of an appeal.

The document further stated: “While due respect must be given to the role of the Courts to adjudicate fundamental rights, the privilege of Parliamentarians to speak freely within Parliament is inviolate, and it is the intention of the Government to seek to defend the law which now obtains on the subject and to preserve the freedom of Members of Parliament to speak freely in the Houses of Parliament.”

In April a writ was filed by Save The Bays, Coalition to Save Clifton and Zachary Hampton Bacon in the Supreme Court, claiming that the government, acting through Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell, Mr Fitzgerald and Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller, obtained private and confidential emails and attachments belonging to the applicants and disclosed confidential information contained in this correspondence during the course of parliamentary proceedings on March 15 and 17.

The  email scandal became national news after Mr Fitzgerald accused the environmental organisation of attempting to “overthrow” the Progressive Liberal Party government.

Mr Fitzgerald, at the time, warned members of Save The Bays to “batten down” because a “category five” hurricane was on its way, as he threatened to table “every single” email and bank statement in his possession if needed to protect his integrity and parliamentary privilege.