Statement by Dr. the Hon. Kenny D. Anthony, Prime Minister, on Allegations of Honourable Richard Frederick

STATEMENT BY DR. THE HON. KENNY D. ANTHONY,PRIME MINISTER,

ON ALLEGATIONS OF HONOURABLE RICHARD FREDERICK

Over the past few days, and with the knowledge that the General Election is constitutionally due, Honourable Richard Frederick, Member of Parliament for Central Castries, has embarked on a politically motivated campaign of misinformation and retaliation. One particularly vexing mistruth concerns the unfortunate incident involving the arrest and conviction of a British national in a British Court that occurred some three years ago.

In the face of a complete absence of any factual basis for his calculated campaign of deception, the recently elected Member of Parliament for Central Castries has made several self serving and false statements attempting to link me with the arrest and conviction of the British national in a British Court for trafficking in drugs, originating from Saint Lucia.. As is known, the individual was allowed to use the VIP Lounge at Hewanorra Airport by the hostess of the lounge, Ms. Cheryl Cadet, who was subsequently dismissed by SLASPA.

On July 27, 2006, Mr. Frederick appeared on “Talk”, a programme whose moderator and host is Rick Wayne. Mr. Frederick proceeded to link me with the incident and went on to allege that I was “interviewed by Scotland Yard in England”.

Not being happy with his political effort on the “Talk” programme, Mr. Frederick repeated and expanded these allegations at a “so called” Mini Rally of the UWP in Saltibus on Sunday July 30, 2006. Indeed, Mr. Frederick made a number of statements seeking to implicate me in the incident and went as far as to invite me to confirm that I was “the only Prime Minister in the Caribbean that Scotland Yard has interrogated”.

The statements which were made at the Mini Rally in Saltibus were published, as a news item on Helen Television on Monday, July 31, 2006. It was also a major news item on Helen F.M. Radio 100 on more than one occasion. It was also a subject of discussion by Mr. Andre Paul on Helen F.M. Radio 100 on his programme “What Makes Me Mad”:, again on more than one occasion.

At no time did any of the media houses or personnel seek or broadcast any comment or inquiry from me prior to broadcasting or discussing Mr. Frederick’s false and scandalous statements. I find such conduct reckless in the extreme as those very media houses and personnel covered the circumstances surrounding the incident at the VIP Lounge at Hewanorra Airport which led to the arrest and conviction of the British citizen and knew full well that at no time was I in any way implicated or involved in the incident. Therefore, they knew or ought to have known that the insinuations and allegations of the Member for Central Castries’ were and had to be false prior to broadcasting and publishing them.

For public record, I wish to state categorically that I was never involved in the incident at the VIP Lounge or trafficking of drugs in any way or at all. Mr. Frederick’s statements and the maliciously designed insinuation that I was in any way involved are insidious, dishonest and totally false. So too is his calculatedly false statement or inference that I was interviewed by Scotland Yard. That statement is manifestly and absolutely false!

I was never and have never been interviewed or interrogated by Scotland Yard over the incident at the VIP Lounge in London, Saint Lucia or elsewhere, or over any matter pertaining to drugs or trafficking in drugs.

These statements and innuendos made by Mr. Frederick were dishonestly crafted and calculated to inflict political damage on my character, integrity and reputation well knowing that the General Election is due.

As Prime Minister of St. Lucia I would be in serious dereliction of my duties and obligations to the people and State of St. Lucia if I simply ignored the statements or the recklessness of the media houses and personnel who published them. How can Saint Lucians trust in my integrity if they are made to believe I was connected to a drug trafficking offence?

Mr. Frederick is a lawyer and therefore, knows or at least should be fully aware of the consequences which must follow his utterances and deliberately false and malicious pronouncements.

Therefore, I have instructed my attorneys Mr. Anthony W Astaphan,S.C. and Mr. Peter Foster to proceed to commence legal proceedings against Mr. Frederick for defamation forthwith and to prosecute the claim expeditiously.

I have also instructed my Attorneys to institute proceedings against those media houses and personnel who published the defamatory statements. It is my view that no responsible journalist acting honestly would have broadcast or published the statements of Mr. Frederick. Those who published the statements made by Mr. Fredrick knew or ought to have known that the statements were false, and did so recklessly and/ or in order to injure my reputation as Prime Minister of Saint Lucia and the Political Leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party. I simply cannot continue to ignore such flagrant assault on my integrity.

It will now be a matter for the Courts where Mr. Frederick will have to either put up or shut up.

4th August 2006

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