By: Spokesman Newsroom
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Wednesday 21st March 2018)-Opposition Leader of the St.Kitts-Nevis Labour Party Dr. Denzil L. Douglas has replied to a recent statement made by Attorney General Vincent ‘Juicy’ Byron’s in response to allegations of sexual misconduct levelled at the office of the Attorney General calling it “idiotic”.
Dr. Douglas addressed the matter at the Party’s town hall meeting held on Tuesday night (20th March) at the St. Peter’s Anglican Church.
“So when the Attorney General is going to make some asinine statement- an idiotic statement- that nobody trouble Douglas inside his chambers, I believe that the Attorney General himself, he should be the first to be looked at by the Prime Minister because he is head of his chambers and investigations should start with him as head of the chambers before it gets down to anyone else,” he remarked.
In his opening remarks on the issue, the immediate former Prime Minister talked about the credibility in making such sexual assault accusation.
“We understand that at the last (prime minister’s) press conference, the Attorney General attempted to give a response to this matter but let me make it clear, I do not bring to our Parliament and I do not bring to the people of this country anything that is not based on truth and facts.”
Douglas continued: “I know that there has been a credible complaint that…at least one person who we know for a fact went into the Attorney General’s chambers to seek justice and she was sexually assaulted. There is no question about that and I will not say more about this because I believe that the matter eventually will come properly to light through a legal judicial system that we have here in St.Kitts and Nevis.”
At the Prime Minister’s live broadcast press conference held on Wednesday 14th March at Government Headquarters, Bryon, who also hold the portfolio as the Minister of Justice, Legal Affairs and Communications, addressed the controversial topic.
His feedback, which came over after one month since the allegation was surfaced by the Opposition leader during a January 2018 session of the National Assembly, was given after a question raised by a local reporter.
Byron’s answer, however, has been heavily criticised by members of the public.
His full reply is seen below.
“I understand that the only person who has made any claim that the office of the Attorney General has been harassing any citizen in this country has been the leader of the Opposition Dr. Denzil Douglas and the harassment claim as I understand, it came because an announcement was made in the National Assembly in the Parliament that Dr. Douglas had made a faux pas in accepting and using a diplomatic passport of Dominica and in response in the Parliament he threw out a claim that no attorney general would be able to do him anything and threw out this ridiculous claim that there is some harassment going on. I have checked with the office of the Attorney General and no one in that office has harassed Dr. Douglas in any way and especially not sexually either and so this idea of allegations as you’re saying being thrown out in the public to distract the citizens from a very serious matter involving the use by Dr. Douglas of a diplomatic passport for another country which is (offensive) according to our constitution. I am not certain how that Dr. Douglas claimed that the Attorney General’s office has been harassing him. It has nothing to do with domestic violence either so that but that would be my answer to that question.”