Grenada Today - Feb 14th, 2004

The Preliminary Inquiry into the criminal libel charges brought against GRENADA TODAY newspaper Editor George Worme by Police Commissioner Fitzroy Bedeau could resume in the Magistrate Court by the end of the month.

This was disclosed Jamaican Hugh Wildman, Special Prosecutor to the ruling New National Party (NNP) administration of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell.

Wildman told reporters at a press conference held Tuesday at the Ministerial Complex building in the Botanical Gardens, St. George's that he has asked Chief Magistrate Patricia Mark to re-issue summons to Worme for the resumption of the matter.

The Editor was charged in September 1999 for publishing a letter in the GRENADA TODAY about Dr. Mitchell which according to the State was in contravention to section 252 of the Criminal Code of Grenada.

The letter under the caption, "Doc, stop playing politics" was critical of Dr. Mitchell who is also the political leader of the NNP. It insinuated that the Grenadian leader had spent large sums of money to sway voters to his party in the January 1999 poll in which the NNP won all fifteen seats.

At the hearing before Magistrate Mark, defence lawyer Dr. Francis Alexis had submitted that provisions of the criminal code relating to libel were inconsistent with the Grenada constitution. The matter eventually reached the Privy Council which handed down a ruling on January 29.

The law Lords in England, according to Dr. Alexis narrows Grenada's libel laws and gave the go-ahead for the Chief Magistrate to proceed with the Criminal Libel case.

When the matter was last heard in the Magistrate's court, Prime Minister Mitchell had completed giving evidence for the State. Legal Affairs Minister Elvin Nimrod who also spoke at the press conference on the Privy Council ruling gave assurances that Worme's case must not be viewed as an attack by the NNP regime on freedom of the press in Grenada.

He said the media have a right to publish information which should not be watered down in any way but that journalists should know they have to operate with a level of responsibility.

According to Nimrod, what the English Law Lords are saying in the judgement is that public officials do have a right to privacy and the onus is on the media to respect those rights. He is stated that there is a need for civil laws to be given more teeth in the country.

Nimrod said that there a number of outstanding judgements handed down by the High Court against persons including newspaper editors that are not being honoured and that there is a need for this to be addressed.