The Tribune

FRED Mitchell declined to comment yesterday after a website he previously said “aligns itself with his thinking” wished death on attorney Fred Smith.

Editorial writers on the Bahamas Uncensored website hoped for a more harmful outcome for Mr Smith, who is recovering in hospital in Italy after a paragliding accident that left him with serious injuries.

The website, formerly called fredmitchelluncensored, contains no bylines to identify the writers. Mr Mitchell, who has historically distanced himself from its posts, declined to comment yesterday on the comment about Mr Smith when contacted by The Tribune.

The editorial said: “Fred Smith sadly did not die in the accident in Italy and was back of the front pages of the newspapers of the Bahamas clowning around in wheel chair in Italy as if he were some conquering lion. That he has survived the accident and promises to return to The Bahamas to create much more mischief in the Bahamas, was not as a result of the prayers of the faithful. His front organization called Rights Bahamas was in the press denouncing the Bahamas again because our usually timid government stood up to these international bullies who want to tell us how to run our immigration policy. Once again, he put Fred Mitchell’s name in it. Mr Mitchell has nothing to do with the policies of immigration but Fred Smith just has a thing with Fred Mitchell. Poor fella. The problem is that the Rights Bahamas fronting for Fred Smith have again defamed the immigration officials of the Bahamas and will no doubt continue to do so. For the record, the immigration policies of The Bahamas are not illegal and they are not inhumane. We support the position that if you are not here lawfully you must return to your home country. Simple as that.”

While paragliding in the Dolomite mountains of the Italian Alps, Mr Smith dislocated and shattered his left ankle, broke his left tibia, dislocated and sliced his right ankle and broke two vertebrae. He had surgery and is healing in an Italian hospital.

In November 2016, Mr Mitchell recorded a voice note in which he encouraged supporters to read Bahamas Uncensored, as well as the Fred Mitchell minute-by-minute Facebook page, because it “aligns with much of my thinking on political issues”.

At the time, the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association called for the then Minister of Foreign Affairs to be excluded from further discussions with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights because of the voice note, saying Bahamas Uncensored was “well known to be closely connected to the governing PLP party and has been responsible for much of the intimidating and aggressive rhetoric which has targeted the beneficiaries of Precautionary Measure MC 706-16 (a ruling by the commission), including an image of a victim with a gun in his mouth with the caption ‘Save The Bays needs to be destroyed’.”

Mr Smith was one of five people to benefit from the October 2016 ruling which required the Bahamas government to adopt the necessary measures to protect their lives and those of their families.