The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis does not regret pledging to expunge the records of Cabbage Beach protestors who face court charges and he still intends to “live up to the commitment” he made them, Press Secretary Anthony Newbold said Tuesday. 

However, he could not explain how Dr Minnis will do something legal experts believe could open him up to executive interference accusations and overreach, as laws do not empower a prime minister to expunge a person’s record of a criminal conviction.  

Ten people were charged, including for obstruction and disorderly conduct, in 2016 after they protested limited vendor access to Cabbage Beach. Some protestors tore down a fence that blocked the entrance to the beach not long after the government had announced the pathway would be opened for a period of time while it sought a resolution with the property owner.

As leader of the opposition, Dr Minnis said he “expected the charges to be dropped,” and if they were not he said “the records will be wiped clean” under an FNM government.

“These men will have no criminal records that will interfere with their advancement and progression in society,” he said in 2016, outside the Magistrate’s Court as the men were arraigned. “It will be wiped clean.”

Many months later, the protestors have been in and out of court but have been unable to meet Dr Minnis so he could make good on his promise to them.

They told The Tribune on Monday that Dr Minnis encouraged some of them to join the protest and now they feel used and betrayed.

Conceivably, the Office of the Attorney General could issue a nolle prosequi to end the case, but doing so would raise questions about political interference for an administration that has passed a law making the Department of Public Prosecutions independent from such influence. Otherwise, Attorney Wayne Munroe said yesterday that some criminal convictions are expunged automatically “after the required time has passed” under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

He added the Perogative of Mercy Committee could recommend a pardon for a conviction.

“The problem is that if you don’t enter a nolle prosequi before the conviction, you are saying that it is okay to break the law if you have a good reason,” Mr Munroe added. “No one does that.” 

During Tuesday’s press conference, Mr Newbold said: “It’s a legal issue and so when it comes to legal matters (Dr Minnis) will always be guided by his attorney general. But the prime minister is a man who always lives up to his commitments and if I say anything to the public, if I say anything to the protestors at Cabbage Beach, the prime minister lives up to his commitments.”

In fact, Attorney General Carl Bethel has already addressed the issue, telling the Nassau Guardian recently: “Politicians don’t have the authority to direct prosecutions or discontinue prosecutions or expunge.”

Told this was Mr Bethel’s view, Mr Newbold repeated his comment: “He (the prime minister) lives up to his commitments.”

Asked if the prime minister will meet the protestors, Mr Newbold said: “He lives up to his commitments. Whatever commitment he made, he intends to live up to it.”

Last year the Minnis administration passed a constitutional amendment to create an Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Although the law has not yet been gazetted, it mandates that an attorney general can only direct a DPP’s action under specified conditions “involving consideration of public policy, national security or the international obligations of the Bahamas.” Critics have faulted this provision in the ammendment, saying the broad categories create loopholes that an administration could exploit to interfere in a case. The amendment mandates that an attorney general’s direction be gazetted and disclosed to the public. 

Asked how the prime minister will fulfill his promise to the Cabbage Beach protestors in light of the Department of Public Prosecution’s independence, Mr Newbold said: “...We didn’t have that discussion but I’m sure that is something he’s thinking about and everybody needs to think about because that person is certainly independent and that was always the intention.”

Mr Newbold said Dr Minnis does not regret his promise. 

“No, no, (the) prime minister months ago – and I told this story shortly after the election and shortly after I was appointed and somebody called and said tell the prime minister if he could just live up to a third of his promises he will be fine. And (the prime minister) said what is he talking about, I didn’t make promises because I didn’t know how I would fulfill them; I intend to fulfill all the commitments I made.”

Nevertheless, Dr Minnis has already failed to live up to at least one of his boldest promises: to renegotiate the Baha Mar deal left in place by the former Christie administration.

After pledging to do this during the lead-up to last year’s general election, Dr Minnis has instead attended the opening of Baha Mar events marking new stages of the development of the resort.

The resort sale has since been finalised to Hong Kong-based conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.