Opposition raises concerns

The opposition New Democratic Party has termed the admission by former National Security Minister Sir Vincent Beache that “some telephones were in fact tapped,” as “startling, shocking and alarming.” {{more}}

According to the NDP, the government and the Director of Public Prosecutions Colin Williams owe Elwardo Lynch a public apology.

Lynch, host of the New Times Programme, was found guilty of publishing a false statement likely to cause alarm.

He was fined $3,000 overall. Judgment in his appeal was handed down in St. Kitts-Nevis last Monday and the appeal was dismissed on all ten grounds. The matter was brought before Justices of Appeal, Michael Gordon, Q.C., Denys Barrow, SC, and Hugh Rawlins.

The NDP in their weekly column asked: “If Sir Vincent knew that phones were tapped, how could it be alarming to say so?”

The NDP column questioned if the real issue would be “who are tapping the phones?”

As far as the NDP is concerned, “this EG Lynch prosecution issue and that of telephone tapping will not go away easily.”

According to the NDP, based on what Sir Vincent Beache was reported as saying, “Has the government been engaged in phone tapping?”