HOME	SEPTEMBER 04th, 2004

SEPT 04

Former Opposition leader Michael Baptiste, has lashed out at the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) for being afraid of investigating the allegations of bribery leveled against Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell.

Baptiste said that no one in Grenada including the police had anything to do with the soon to begin commission of inquiry which was announced by Governor General, Sir Daniel Williams a few weeks ago.

The former parliamentarian told reporters minutes before attending an informal sitting of the commission of inquiry at York House that Grenadians should be thankful to the leaders of CARICOM who insisted that an inquiry takes place.

"We have to thank the CARICOM Heads of Government because they felt that the bribery allegations hanging over Keith Mitchell's head is a stain to all decent Prime Ministers and Governments in the region and therefore in order for them to accept him as Chairman of CARICOM, he had to hold an inquiry", he said.

Baptiste claimed that most of the leaders of CARICOM were backing away from the Heads of Government meeting which took place in Grenada a few weeks ago due to the bribery allegations against the Prime Minister

"The leaders were ashamed to be associated with a man who is accused of accepting US$500,000.00 in a briefcase from a fraudster who is in jail in the United States...", he said.

"....The other decent, honest Prime Ministers in the region felt duty bound to impress upon Mitchell to hold this inquiry if he wanted to be Chairman of CARICOM", he added. Baptiste stated that if the CARICOM leaders did not make such demands there would not have been any inquiry into the allegations leveled against Mitchell

The former M.P noted that a few weeks earlier, Special Prosecutor Hugh Wildman of Jamaica and Police Commissioner Fitzroy Bedeau publicly went on the record as saying that there is nothing to investigate.

According to Baptiste, it is rather strange that while both men are saying that there is nothing to investigate the accused (Prime Minister Mitchell) has hired himself one of the top criminal lawyers in the Caribbean to defend him in the inquiry.

"They should be ashamed of themselves because we are confident that something will come of out this investigation", he remarked. Baptiste has expressed interest in appearing before the inquiry to brief Commissioner Richard Cheltenham on information he had picked up on the "briefcase" issue.

He spoke of bing told about the alleged US$500,000.00 bribery incident in November 2000 by two persons in London and that a few weeks later he raised the issue during the budget debate of the same year.

"There and then the Prime Minster got up (and asked the Speaker foir Baptiste to withdraw certain statements made in parliament) and the truth is I was not referring to him", he said.

The former parliamentarian said he is fully prepared to testify before the Commission at the appropriate time but also called for the careful examination of the hansard report on the exchange between him and Dr. Mitchell on the issue.