WASHINGTON - Reporters Without Borders, a group that campaigns for freedom of the press around the world, has voiced "deep concern" about the detention of a journalist in Grenada.

The Group has condemned the recent arrest of journalist Leroy Noel for interrogation about his sources for a report on an alleged case of corruption implicating Prime Minister Keith Mitchell.

"The arrest, detention and interrogation undergone by this journalist constitute a serious violation of press freedom," the organisation said. Leroy Noel was held at police headquarters in St. George's and questioned about a report published on 19 May in the online newspaper Caribbean Net News headlined, "Days numbered for Grenada Prime Minister?".

Noel is the third person detained in two days for questioning about published reports about the alleged corruption case. Director of the Government Information Service (GIS), Selwyn Noel had warned the news media not to repeat allegations made on May 15 May in a Miami-based publication about a US$500,000.00 payment made in 2000 to Prime Minister Mitchell by a German businessman, Eric Resteiner.

The Grenadian leader vehemently denied the claim and said that he received "approximately $15, 000 U.S from Resteiner to cover the expenses of an official Grenada delegation on a trip to Europe and Kuwait.

Dr. Mitchell has filed a law suit in the local high court against the publishers of the article. The Mitchell government appointed Resteiner to a diplomatic post but it was reportedly revoked in 2001. Resteiner is now being prosecuted in the United States.

Noel's detention came two days after Dr. Mitchell reportedly threatened him in public. The Media Workers Association of the Caribbean has also criticized the law of criminal libel, which prosecutors are seeking to slap on Grenada journalists. It said that it is an outdated law that must be scrapped.