The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE National Crime Intelligence Act 2019 passed in the Senate yesterday despite the Official Opposition’s attempts to have the upper chamber accept various amendments to portions of the legislation.

Ahead of its Senate passage, Attorney General Carl Bethel blasted the Official Opposition for what he called a hypocritical stance. The Progressive Liberal Party has lashed out at the legislation and the new agency it will create, with PLP Leader Philip “Brave” Davis saying last month the new law contains elements that are “dangerous” and “unconstitutional”.

However during the last Christie administration, there was no legislation to support the newly formed National Intelligence Agency, which was housed on Nassau Street, prompting criticism from some quarters that the former government had created an “illegal spy agency”. The NIA was disbanded shortly after the Free National Movement took office in May 2017.

“Let me say doctor’s take what they call the Hippocratic Oath after the great Greek physician Hippocrates, but it seems that colleagues opposite have taken the ‘hypocritic’ oath today and they are manfully adhering to their oath of hypocrisy (sic),” Senator Bethel said during the wrap up of debate of the bill.

“I have to say that in respect of the overall position that the members opposite have taken but in particular the comment was made when members on this side – I did and Senator (Jamaal) Moss in particular pointed to the building on Nassau Street that was housing this agency that had no statutory or public authority that was being funded in the PLP’s budget for five years, that was engaged in something we don’t know what [and] all kind of disc on top of the antenna and everything at that building.

“They had no statutory warrant or authority - the comment was made opposite that the police are doing those thing they have that power but in fact that wasn’t the case because when we came to office we met [Royal Bahamas] Defence force officers running it. It wasn’t the police. It was set up as a body that was separate from the law enforcement agencies with the hope that it would be doing for them what they presently do.”

He also said: “The PLP established a unit which they funded, which had no lawful authority to do what it was doing. This law provides a legal framework for a body separate and apart from the police and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force to perform intelligence-based operations for the protection of the overall nation.”

The opposition has also contended that the provisions of the new law will target Bahamians.

However, Mr Bethel said this was not the case, insisting it only aimed to crack down on people or groups outside the borders who pose serious threats to the democracy, economy, constitution or system of government.

The legislation also passed with the support of consultative Senator Ranard Henfield who also honed in on the former Christie administration’s handling of the their version of the NIA. He said for any one to speak out against the Minnis administration’s NCIA legislation would be “playing politics”.

He said: “From the outset I wish to say that I support the legislation to regulate the intelligence agency. For the life of me I don’t understand how the PLP could be opposed to it. In fact I won’t pretend that this business of an intelligence agency is an FNM idea.

“The fact of the matter is this whole business of an intelligence agency is all the PLP. This intelligence agency is the PLP’s creation.”

For her part, opposition Senator Jobeth Coleby-Davis said she had “great trepidation” over the legislation. She urged the government to park it, just as the former government did with its version.

She said this Act contained blurred lines that made it hard to decipher between a spy agency and existing law enforcement organisations.

The Official Opposition has maintained that the legislation is “unconstitutional” and “unworkable” because it calls into question the independence of the body and appears to leave the door open to political interference among other things.

The legislation must be enacted before it becomes law.