Outgoing Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade.
By AVA TURNQUEST
Tribune Chief Reporter
aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
COMMISSIONER of Police Ellison Greenslade yesterday denied reports that a senior police officer was sent to St Lucia to assist with a reported probe into the background of Supreme Court Justice Indira Charles.
Reports that attorney Keod Smith was in St Lucia conducting interviews with local officials concerning the character of Justice Charles have been making rounds since last month; however, news blog St Lucia Today recently alleged that Mr Smith has been accompanied by a senior police officer from the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
Mr Smith, a former Progressive Liberal Party MP, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Insisting that police officers could not overstep their jurisdiction, or operate independently, Commissioner Greenslade said he has ordered an investigation into the matter based on information he received.
While he would not disclose further details, Commissioner Greenslade emphasised that the law enforcement agency had not authorised the alleged probe.
The report follows a decision by the House Committee on Privilege to postpone its probe into the Save The Bays email leak in Parliament, and the subsequent ruling by Justice Charles that determined the leak to be unconstitutional. The case brought against Marathon MP Jerome Fitzgerald is now before the Court of Appeal.
On Sunday, the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association said due to the reports, the country’s international reputation is at stake.
“The Grand Bahama Human Rights Association hereby calls upon the government of the Bahamas and the Royal Bahamas Police Force to distance themselves forcefully and immediately from the disturbing allegations contained in certain online reports coming out of St Lucia in recent days,” a statement from the group said.
“Specifically, it was reported on several news and information websites, including St Lucia Today, that an investigation into the ‘character’ of Justice Indra Charles of the Bahamas Supreme Court, is being conducted by certain agents from the Bahamas, including a senior RBPF officer. Justice Charles has recently been at the centre of controversy after she ruled that Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald’s disclosure of private emails and financial information belonging to environmental group Save The Bays (STB) was unconstitutional.
“If the claims are untrue - and we trust that they are - the Christie administration and the commissioner of police must declare their falsehood and distance themselves from any such investigation in no uncertain terms. We also call on the Bahamas Bar Association to make its position on these allegations clear,” the group said.
Comments
sheeprunner12 8 years, 1 month ago
Greenslade has shown that he is not a man of clean hands when it comes to being non-political and above the dirty politics of the past four years
The_Oracle 8 years, 1 month ago
From the Political's it does not surprise me, I pray Greenslade's hands are clean, otherwise we are but a step away from the destruction of the rule of law, from within.
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 1 month ago
Apparently it is common knowledge within the U.S. DEA and also within the highest levels of our government that our police commissioner is quite the yachtsman who has a special fondness for acquiring luxurious yachts "on the cheap". Hopefully none of these yachts were confiscated by our defense force or other law enforcement officials from the likes of drug smugglers. That would be a most serious conflict of interest! One would think the police commissioner and other high ranking law enforcement officials would not be permitted to directly or indirectly acquire such property that is subject to public auction for the benefit of the Public Treasury. It does give one pause for thought though why Greenslade seems so prone to accusations of either helping our government do things that it should not be doing or turning a blind eye to such things. It seems whenever the public cries foul about something that Greenslade should be looking into on his own initiative (as our country's chief law enforcement officer), he immediate response is: "I will have the matter investigated and get to the bottom of it fast." But that's usually the last the public hears of the matter from him! Greenslade must be swamped with such matters he has undertaken to the public to investigate over the years, but none of us dare hold our breath while we wait endlessly for him to report his findings on any of them. Small wonder the public is left with genuine concerns about whether the rule of law applies in the Bahamas anymore.
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