The past week has been an interesting one with the arrest of former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Member of Parliament and former minister for the environment and housing, Kenred Dorsett on charges of bribery and extortion.  During the very same week we found that there were no charges being filed against former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Member of Parliament and former Chairman of the Bahamas Industrial and Agricultural Corporation, Dion Smith, for suspicion of thief from the corporation and with this revelation Progressive Liberal Party ‘mouth-piece’, Wayne Munroe QC went into action labeling the subsequent arrest a ‘witch-hunt’; a  phrase being re-hashed by the Progressive Liberal Party, still short on ideas, as it attempts to re-energize its base, which all about abandoned them during the 2012 general election.

“Munroe: Smith should be compensated for arrest” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Attorney Wayne Munroe, QC, said yesterday, that the government should compensate former Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) Chairman Dion Smith and the eight BAIC employees after it was revealed that no evidence of wrong doing was found in the thief probe at BAIC.

Police have said they were investigating a report of thief of electronic items on the night of the May 10^th general election, Smith was arrested, held overnight and released the next day.

Eight BIAC employees were also questioned and released.

Munroe represented Smith and those eight employees.

‘The government should stop doing foolishness,’ Munroe charged yesterday in an interview with The Nassau Guardian.”

My Morning Paper’s first question is if the police has released a statement informing the public that they “were investigating a report of a thief of electronic items…..” how does Wayne Munroe QC make the leap to ,”The government should stop doing foolishness”? Unless he [Mr. Munroe] wishes to imply that on the night of the general election, the Free National Movement (FNM), already assured that it had won the government had already taken full control of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) and instructed them [the RBPF] to target and arrest BAIC Chairman Smith along with others – if this is the case I would say, wow; what a crystal ball!

But of course Mr. Munroe QC does not offer any legal reason as to why the government should compensate Mr. Smith and the eight others, beside to say; “They [the government] should give him [Dion Smith] some money and not just him, the other eight people who they embarrassed.”  Mr. Munroe is reaching a new low as he attempts to defend the questionable actions of Mr. Smith in this case and I would put it to him; Mr. Munroe, if you are really serious at all then why not present a legal argument to the courts and sue the government; whom you blame for the embarrassment of Smith and the eight others,  for the compensation of Mr. Dion Smith, along with others” , because without action and only talk it is all for naught and only goes to advance the political and professional career of Mr. Munroe QC and his original argument within itself makes no sense, as it does not seem to be based on any logical argument.

My Morning Paper asks why would compensation even be necessary if the police ‘acting on intelligence’ arrested Mr. Dion Smith along with others? They followed the evidence and it eventually exonerated Mr. Smith along with others, an apology was extended, in my opinion this is all that is required.  So while Mr. Munroe QC attempts to attack the government for ‘doing foolishness’, he is actually calling the police force incompetent and also implying that they [the police] were acing at the direction of the Free National Movement party, when they were not the government and unable to issue such a ‘secret police/Nazi Germany police’ directive.

Mr. Munroe QC has yet to make the viable link between the government and this arrest, we await his legal argument and subsequent connection.

END