Wikileaks Monday October 29, 2007
TODAY the highest court in the British Empire, the British Privy Council, heard a media suppression order case appealed by the government of Bermuda over sensitive leaked police files which expose government corruption at the highest levels.
Bermuda, a tax haven and one of the world’s wealthiest islands, is the financial headquarters of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and many other billionaires.
Since June, the documents have led to a police raid on the Bermuda Broadcasting Corporation, the arrest of the Auditor General and have sparked a diplomatic incident between Bermuda and the United Kingdom.
The premier of Bermuda, Mr. Brown, and the Attorney General, Philip Perinchief, are seeking to have the Privy Council order that the media cannot print information from the leaked police files.
Wikileaks has released a statement from the leaker, known as ‘Son of the Soil’, together with the leaked document summary that is the subject of the suppression proceedings in the Privy Council.
Back in 2002 the Bermuda police undertook an investigation into allegations of corruption at the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) following the loss of $8,000,000 (eight million dollars). Apparently, in 2004, the acting Director of Public Prosecutions Kulandra Ratneser said some of those investigated escaped prosecution due to Bermuda’s antiquated corruption laws; the parties were not exonerated. Only the conviction of property officer Terence Smith followed. The matter appeared concluded.
In 2006 Bermuda’s Auditor General, Larry Denis, published his report which highlighted the ‘disappearance’ (inability to account for) $800,000,000 (eight hundred million dollars). Mr. Dennis is reported to have said: “One recommendation (in Appendix Two) requires special mention this year. In my 2003, 2004 and 2005 annual reports I expressed concern at the number of frauds and misappropriations that were detected in recent years in Government entities”. The BHC scandal appears to have paled into insignificance; clearly the Bermuda police had to consider proportionality and priorities; the police fraud department manpower comprised single figures – forget BHC’s eight million, there was $792,000,000 of Government ‘leakage’ to find … except it appears that this colossal loss is not being investigated!
Then, in May 2007, the BHC scandal resurfaced and hit Bermuda’s headlines again … new allegations appeared in Bermuda’s press, information gleaned from a ‘secret’ police file naming suspects that included the head of the island’s government, the Premier Ewart Brown. The police dossier was said to run into thousands of pages.
There was an outcry from the serving Government and the police that this file could be in the hands of the press. The AG Philip Perinchief apparently said it was about principles and drew a parallel: “Just think for example that your neighbor accused you of a scandalous crime, the police come to question you and the inner workings of that investigation are then handed over to the press for publication – even though you’ve done nothing in the eyes of the law. I expect you would be mortified.” What Mr Perinchief appears to have misunderstood is that the accusation was made, Ewart Brown’s name came up as a suspect but the police did NOT ‘come to question him’. What likely mortifies people is that the island’s premier would appear to remain a suspect AND has never answered the allegations; he has never been questioned by the police. Why not?
What followed was, and remains, bizarre; the island’s chief of Police, George Jackson was initially reported to have said that the ‘secret’ file was ‘MISSING’. Then the file was said to have been ‘STOLEN’. Deputy Commissioner Roseanda Young apparently said that there were special measures in place to secure all documentation. However, these measures appear to have been anything but ‘special’; the file escaped and its disappearance has yet to be accounted for, the file has not been located. It appears all the more odd that Mr Jackson was unable to immediately say that the file was ‘stolen’, he could only explain that the papers were unaccounted for despite ‘special measures’.
Police Commissioner George Jackson and Attorney General Philip Perinchief launched a court action against the media who published information relating to the leak. They were represented by lawyer Delroy Duncan: a person whose name featured in an enquiry undertaken by George Jackson that was described by one former Bermuda senior officer as “an investigation of what undoubtedly remains the largest and most serious crimes of conspiracy, drug trafficking, and money laundering ever conducted in the Bermuda Police Service.” An investigation that it would appear has similarities to the BHC enquiry; it was not progressed.
Ewart Brown has not answered the allegations; he has gagged the media. The Government, via Senator David Burch, Minister of Public Safety, has also written to the Governor, Sir John Vereker, asking him to delegate his responsibilities over the Bermuda Police Service.
As the Bermuda Courts have already found in favour of the island’s press (Bermuda Royal Gazette, Mid Ocean News and ZBM radio), on Monday 29th October 2007, the issues will be aired at Bermuda’s highest court of appeal, Privy Council, London. Mr. Brown, Attorney General Philip Perinchief and George Jackson will seek to have the Privy Council order that the media cannot print information from the leaked police files.
Who will win? Many appear to have sided with the media. The Bermuda Government clearly has a problem with its ability to control expenditure; the leak of public funds appears to be a haemorrhage. Is this surprising if no one is investigating, apprehending and prosecuting offenders? If there is no deterrent, why would whoever is responsible stop? How else are the public to ascertain what has happened and make an informed decision in the absence of leaks? Bermuda is one of the few western hemisphere countries without Freedom of Information legislation.
More recently, (22nd October 2007) Premier Ewart Brown launched a personal attempt to prevent the press printing details of the BHC police investigation. Mr Brown was apparently represented by Charles Richardson, a lawyer called to the Bar in 2004 just two years after being released, having served seven years of a 15 year term of imprisonment for his part in a nightclub shooting. As for the Auditor General, Mr Denis who raised concerns in his report, he has had his offices searched, been arrested and is currently on bail. He is suspected of being connected with the disappearance of the secret police file, a file he has apparently claimed he was provided by a former commissioner of police, Jonathan Smith. It appears the Bermuda police are willing to quiz the Auditor General over a missing (stolen?) file but not the Premier, Ewart Brown, about the missing (stolen?) $8,000,000.
As for who leaked the police file, all that has been reported is that he / she goes by the name ‘Son of the Soil’. As with all of the above further information can be gleaned by undertaking a simple Google search of the names and “+Bermuda”. As for leaked documents in general, it is evident from searching the internet for Bermuda police files that there are many leaked papers on the web, this is not a new problem, so why the concern about the BHC file?
See
- Son-of-the-soil.pdf – Statement and document from ‘Son of the Soil’ to Wikileaks
- http://politics.bm/ – Christian S. Dunleavy’s site, under injunction
Breaking News: Privy Council rules against Government
Breaking News: Privy Council rules against Government
Elizabeth Roberts
Bermuda’s media should not be banned from reporting further extracts of a leaked Police dossier on the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC ) scandal, the Island’s highest court of appeal ruled today.
Five Law Lords from the Privy Council, sitting in London, said previous refusals by Chief Justice Richard Ground and the Court of Appeal to interfere with the freedom of the press were correct.
They also ruled that the Government and Police Commissioner, who brought the case, should pay the costs – which are believed to run into six figures.
Editor of The Royal Gazette, Bill Zuill, said this afternoon: “Today is a good day for freedom of expression in Bermuda and reaffirms the public’s right to know.”
Attorney General Philip Perinchief and Commissioner of Police George Jackson asked for the media gag earlier this year after ZBM television news broadcast extracts from the Police files on May 23, and the Mid-Ocean News published stories on June 1 containing further details.
According to the extracts published by the Mid-Ocean News, Premier Ewart Brown, former Premier Jennifer Smith, former Minister Renee Webb, construction boss Zane DeSilva and others were investigated by Police looking into allegations of corruption at the BHC.
When the probe concluded in 2004, the then acting Director of Public Prosecutions Kulandra Ratneser said many of those investigated could only be accused of bad ethics. Mr. Ratneser also said some of those investigated escaped prosecution due to Bermuda’s antiquated corruption laws.
Referring to Mr. Ratneser’s comments during the hearing today, Lord Justice Hoffman of the Privy Council said: “He’s quoted as saying it’s unethical but not criminal. If that’s so, surely the public has a right to know if their politicians behaved unethically?”
His colleague Lord Justice Neuberger observed of the possible unpublished contents of the dossier: “It might be absolutely dynamite, and the public want to know.”
Since the BHC scandal – which is believed to have cost the taxpayer $8 million – one person has been convicted. Terrence Smith, a BHC officer, was found guilty and jailed last year on 41 counts of fraud.
Chief Justice Richard Ground turned down the original request to impose a news blackout on further extracts from the files being published on June 18. He said at the time that a reporting ban would be wrong, as the balance between protecting the confidential Police file and upholding the constitutional right of the press to report serious allegations favoured the latter in this case.
“The (BHC) allegations are not gratuitous, in that there is some evidence to support them, as set out in the material so far reported. Nor do the allegations concern the private personal life of those concerned. They touch upon their conduct in office,” he said. “In those circumstances I think that the public interest is genuinely engaged, and this is not a case of the public being officiously interested in matters which do not concern them.”
The Court of Appeal subsequently upheld his decision but allowed the Attorney General and Police Commissioner to take their case to the Privy Council, deeming it to be a matter of “major public importance”.
Dr. Brown launched a stinging attack on the justice system after the Court of Appeal refused to bar further publications, and accused the Opposition of engineering the leak in a pre-election bid to destabilise his Government.
In a statement from his spokesman on June 25, Dr. Brown said that if the Privy Council ruled – as it has done today – against restraining the media then “Bermuda’s long standing supremacist oligarchy would be vested with legal license to intensify the ongoing UBP / media tyranny.”
Dr. Brown has also launched his own personal legal action against this newspaper and others to stop the publication of further information about him from the BHC file. That action is set to be heard at Supreme Court.
News organisations remained temporarily gagged until the outcome of today’s hearing.
Speaking after the ruling – for which the judges will give their full reasons in writing later – Mr. Zuill said: “We are very pleased that the Privy Council has ruled in favour of the media in this case. The ruling confirms our position that the authorities generally should not be able to exercise prior restraint on publication apart from in exceptional circumstances.”
The Privy Council judges took just over four hours to hear the case. The Government and Commissioner of Police, George Jackson, were represented by James Guthrie QC while Saul Froomkin QC and Alan Dunch represented this newspaper and sister paper the Mid-Ocean News.
Noting that costs were awarded in favour of the media organisations, the others are Bermuda Broadcasting Company and Defontes Broadcasting Company, Mr. Zuill said: “It’s fair to say that if you take the costs of both sides together it is likely to run into six figures. Since it was dismissed with costs, the taxpayer is going to end up shouldering the bulk of that.”
For the full story on today’s events and reaction to the news, see tomorrow’s edition of The Royal Gazette.