Last Updated on June 1, 2020, 2:03 PM AST by Anthony Morris
Hours after Sylvester Anthony, lead attorney for the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP), demanded that Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris remove a false and misleading statement he posted on his Facebook Page, it was taken down.
Anthony dispatched a letter to Attorney General Vincent Byron Jr. late Friday night complaining that Prime Minister Harris had posted a false and misleading statement on his Facebook page about one of the constitutional matters which was being heard earlier by High Court Judge, His Lordship Mr Justice Trevor Ward QC.
PM Harris’ misleading statement read: “The State of Emergency instituted in response to COVID-19 is to remain in place, and the borders are to remain closed. This is the ruling given on May 29, 2020, by The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the High Court of the Justice Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis Circuit.”
Anthony’s letter to Byron noted that it was unfortunate that the efforts made by both in the ZIZ Broadcasting Corporation and State of Emergency matters “have been reduced to a false and misleading FaceBook post” by Prime Minister Harris.
Anthony noted that given that Dr Harris was never present in the Court (sitting virtually) during the proceedings and that Byron and De Lara McClure Taylor only represented the Government “we can only assume that the information he (Harris) received which formed the basis of his public pronouncement had to have come from either or both of you.”
“It has not eluded us that you both are also Officers of the Court, even though the Prime Minister is not, and that each of you have a public duty to ensure that the decisions of the Court are not misrepresented and the Court not brought into disrepute,” wrote Anthony.
He said he trusts and expects that Mr Byron as the Attorney General “will move to ensure that the public record of the Court decision is corrected without delay. I remind you that the Order of the Court was read into the record by His Lordship and was recorded for posterity.”
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
