EDITORIAL

It is time for Governor-General, Sir Daniel Williams to act more decisively in the Keith Mitchell Briefcase issue.

The events that are unfolding in the country and in particular the United States are doing untold damage to the image of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

This newspaper recognises that Prime Minister Mitchell is totally innocent of the allegations being made against him until proven in a court of law. However in politics, it is perception that really matters and not the true guilt or innocence of those who put themselves up for election into high office to give public service.

Sir Daniel should be concerned about the contents of the Timothy Bass video-tape that is currently in the country and would be made available this weekend at a public meeting at Munich, St. Andrew's by former Opposition Leader, Michael Baptiste.

Sir Daniel needs to rethink the mandate given to the Richard Cheltenham Commission of Inquiry to look into allegations that Prime Minister Mitchell collected US$500, 000.00 as bribery payment from former ambassador, Eric Resteiner in June 2000 in Switzerland in exchange for a diplomatic appointment.

The Bass videotape is being used in a civil case filed in New York by one of the persons who was defrauded of millions of dollars by Resteiner who is now serving 87 months jail time at a Federal Prison in Rhode Island in the United States.

GRENADA TODAY has a copy of the transcript of that videotape and the evidence provided by the former Chief of Security of the fraudster is that Resteiner made two substantial payments to Dr. Mitchell amounting to one million dollars in bribery payments.

The New York lawsuit involving our Prime Minister and Resteiner and one of the victims is now public knowledge and anyone can obtain copies of all the relevant documents in the case. And the Governor-General cannot be indifferent to these proceedings. He needs to act and do so in the broader interest of the people of the Tri-island State.  

The time is right for all stakeholders in the country - Grenada Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Conference of Churches of Grenada, Grenada Employers Federation, Trade Union Council, Non-governmental Organisations (NGO's), and others to step in and help resolve this crisis facing the homeland. It is about resolving an issue that is making the country's name looks bad and ugly in the international community as a place where our leaders know only one thing and one thing - corruption and bribes.

An international investigation is needed by a reputable organisation such as Interpol to investigate these allegations and to find the main players who can help bring closure to this very unfortunate turn of events.

The three main players, Timothy Bass, Eric Resteiner and Prime Minister Mitchell can easily be contacted. And GRENADA TODAY fully supports some of the comments recently made by Terry Forrester of the NNP party itself that in light of the turn of events, the Prime Minister should return all monies given to him by Resteiner who was on the rampage in the late 90's and early 2000's by fleecing unsuspecting victims of their monies in a vicious scheme.

The only problem is how much - Dr. Mitchell claimed it was "approximately US$15, 000.00" while the figure of US$1 million is alleged to have been given in the Timothy Bass deposition in the case in New York.

The other related issue, which is doing nothing but harm to the Prime Minister, is his refusal to accept a writ of summons as a defendant by a local bailiff in connection with the New York law suit.
This is sending a very bad and dangerous signal to the rest of the country. If the Prime Minister has nothing to hide and fear then he should seize the opportunity that now presents itself to prove his complete innocence of the allegations being made against him.

His refusal to accept the summon by a court is sending the clear message that the Prime Minister is putting himself above the law and has no respect for the judiciary that is a most important and sacred component of the State.  

And the actions of those police officers last week Thursday to form a human shield around the Prime Minister and to prevent the bailiff from serving the summon is cause for major concern.

Did the police go beyond the call of duty? Did they willfully help the Prime Minister to break the laws of our country, which they have sworn to uphold?

Of equal importance is the fact that the Prime Minister himself took an oath to respect and uphold the constitution and all the institutions including our laws, courts, police service, and the entire judiciary.

It is one thing for the police to be assigned the task of providing security detail for our leaders but it is another thing for the lawmen to be seen as aiding and abetting in wrongdoing.

There are many persons in this country who have been summoned to appear in court based on legal actions brought against them by Prime Minister Mitchell. And all these people have accepted their summons including bench warrants in some instances from the police and made appearances before our Magistrates, Judges and Justices of Appeal in keeping with the dictates of our constitution.

It is morally and ethically wrong for the police to allow such an important institution of the State to be used at the whims and fancy of any individual regardless of the office that person might hold.

Sir Daniel is now the only person who can help to resolve the issue now at hand and to allow sanity and good sense to prevail in the circumstances.