The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY Fred Smith said Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle should have encouraged local extradition proceedings against Peter Nygard over the sexual assault allegations he faces.

Mr Smith also called for a commission of inquiry into the events at Nygard Cay dating back to the 1980s.

His comments yesterday came after Commissioner Rolle said as part of law enforcement’s investigation into Nygard, officers visited the fashion mogul’s Nygard Cay residence but found that the Canadian national had already left the country and would not return.

Mr Smith, QC, said: “It is a sad and tragic reflection on The Bahamas that the FBI and the New York police should be pursuing extradition of Nygard instead of the Bahamian police.”

“I encourage the commissioner of police to immediately seek the extradition of Nygard from Canada. Just like the US authorities can extradite Bahamians for decades to stand trial in the USA, we should grow some prosecutorial testicular tissue and seek extradition of Nygard to stand trial in the Bahamas.”

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged Nygard with racketeering and sexual assault offences last week, prompting the arrest of the 79-year-old in Canada.

Commissioner Rolle declined to discuss Nygard at length with reporters last week, citing sub judice rules.

In response to his position, Mr Smith said: “I urge the commissioner to take advice about the sub judice rule. There are no criminal or civil proceedings afoot in the Bahamas.

“Nygard’s absence does not prevent an investigation continuing. There are many witnesses, many other victims, many other people who worked at Nygard Cay who are prepared to cooperate and assist the police.”

Mr Smith said: “Nygard was not alone. Indeed, the US indictment alleges conspirators, facilitators and supporters. We know that there were police, politicians, clergymen, immigration, customs and all manner of people in the Bahamas involved in the perversion of our paradise.

“Dozens and dozens of young women were abused by Nygard. Where are the mothers? Where are the women’s rights advocates? Where are the icons of society? Why were their voices not heard for decades? The attorney general cannot become the chair of FATF (Caribbean Financial Action Task Force) while the sordid underbelly of human trafficking, sexual abuse, rape of minors is also not exposed.

“I call on the attorney general and the prime minister to hold a commission of inquiry about the goings on at Nygard Cay since the 1980s. We need to have a truth and reconciliation commission to bring social justice to the savagery inflicted on our body politic by Nygard. We cannot chair an international financial commission whilst we sweep under the carpet the rape of our young girls. We should not be known as the sex tourism capital of the Caribbean.”

Nygard’s arrest came months after a class action lawsuit was filed in New York accusing him of raping numerous women, many of them Bahamians.