The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE attorney for former Executive Chairman of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation Dion Smith and eight employees who were arrested and held overnight in connection with a theft case have written to the government seeking its position on liability in the matter.

According to their attorney Wayne Munroe, QC, the letters represent his clients’ attempt to resolve the matter before taking legal action. The letters request a favourable response within ten days.

The letters to the attorney general concern the workers’ “unreasonable” and “unlawful” detention during police investigations into complaints of “theft by reason of employment.”

In separate letters sent yesterday by Mr Munroe on behalf of Mr Smith and the other BAIC workers, the group alleges that their arrest and detention overnight was directly linked to their perceived political affiliation.

Mr Smith was elected as the Nassau Village MP on the Progressive Liberal Party’s ticket in 2012 and stood as the party’s candidate for the area in the recent general election.

The letters were sent to Attorney General Carl Bethel and also addressed to BAIC as the agency that reportedly initiated the complaint.

Both letters make the claim that the board at BAIC did not meet or make a complaint to police, and allege that police took no steps to prevent Mr Munroe’s clients’ detention and transportation from being kept in confidence.

Mr Munroe also claims that no explanation was given for the refusal to grant his clients police bail or to release them pending further investigations.

It is alleged that the circumstances surrounding the police investigation caused injury to his clients’ families and no steps were taken to guard against it.

“There was and could be no legitimate complaint from BAIC as it would require a decision by the board,” the letters noted, which pointed out that there was no justification for handcuffing the employees given the non-violent allegation of stealing from a place that involved no burglary.

Pointing out that the allegation was that his clients acted under the direction of Mr Smith, Mr Munroe argued that there was no justification to detain employees overnight.

Mr Munroe further questioned the justification for detaining additional employees when CCTV footage clearly showed only two men removing belongings at the direction of Mr Smith.

The letter sent on behalf of the BAIC employees further alleged that an inventory was taken and it was reported to the corporation’s head of security that no items were missing.

In the joint letter sent on behalf of the eight BAIC employees, Mr Munroe recounted the day of their arrest on May 16.

He alleged that police officers came to BAIC offices armed with automatic assault weapons and semi-automatic handguns, and purported to arrest the employees at around 4.30pm. The complaint, according to Mr Munroe, was stealing by reason of service: one television and one CPU.

The employees were held in the BAIC meeting room for an hour before they were allowed to speak with legal counsel, Mr Munroe wrote.

The BAIC workers were then transported to CDU by police van, an event Mr Munroe said was done in public view and generated adverse comments towards the employees on social media.

It was noted that a request for the employees to drive their own private vehicles in a convoy was refused.

The employees were processed at the East Street South Police Station for detention records, which also attracted more adverse social media attention.

At CDU, the letter read, the employees were handcuffed and taken in smaller groups to have their homes searched.

Mr Munroe alleges the employees never received a search warrant. In each case, he alleges that the police vehicles proceeded with sirens, horns, and flashing lights, and as police conducted their searches, an officer armed with automatic assault weapons was stationed both in the yard of the residence, and also in the road outside of the home.

Whether the effect was desired or not, Mr Munroe said his clients’ neighbours were alerted to the presence of the police for the search, and also minor relatives were also foreseeably alerted.

At the home of one woman employee, Mr Munroe said police seized a number of televisions and a computer notwithstanding packaging that indicated the items had been imported on a Bahamasair flight.

Despite the initial visit and home searches, the police detained the employees overnight, where both men and women slept on concrete slabs in overcrowded cells. Men were detained at the South Beach Police Station and women were detained at the Cable Beach Police Station, Mr Munroe said.

As for Mr Smith, Mr Munroe argues that the facts of the case would have been well known to police following interviews with BAIC employees and visits to the corporation’s offices on May 16 and 17. Mr Smith was arrested on May 18 after he was invited to CDU.

According to Mr Munroe, Mr Smith was advised that he was under arrest in connection with an allegation of theft of a television, CPU of a desktop computer, an external hard drive and a set of plug in speakers for a computer.

Mr Smith was handcuffed and taken to his former constituency headquarters where he pointed out the television and a powered speaker as his personal belongings.

He was then taken to his Port New Providence home where he pointed out boxes containing photographs and other personal effects kept at his BAIC office, the letter read.

Mr Munroe pointed out that despite this, Mr Smith was still detained overnight, adding that his release the following day was delayed because “the relevant senior officer was at a funeral.”

None of the persons involved in this matter have been charged with an offence. Police later admitted that they found no evidence of wrongdoing over the course of their investigation.