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Volume: 120 No.74, April 19, 2023
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‘CONFIDENT IN POLICE’ OVER MP RAPE CLAIM Deputy PM Cooper says due process will prevail in parliamentarian probe By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net DEPUTY Prime Minister Chester Cooper said he is confident police will adequately investigate allegations that a sitting Member of Parliament raped and assaulted a woman. “There is a complaint with the police in relation to some very serious allegations,” Mr Cooper told reporters yesterday. “I’m
certain that the police will investigate aggressively. We believe in the rule of law and we are confident that due process will prevail and the police will do their jobs.” A woman filed a complaint in Grand Bahama on April 7 against her exboyfriend. On Saturday, she told The Tribune the MP raped, choked, poked her in her eye and made death threats against her and her family during their SEE PAGE THREE FNM women speak out during a press conference on gender-based violence yesterday after an allegation against an MP of rape. Pictured are Senator Maxine Seymour (left), and Vanessa Scott (right). Photo: Austin Fernader
SEARS AND WHITE SUPPORT MARITAL RAPE LEGISLATION FNM WOMEN WANT POLICE TO ATLANTIS VP: RCI PLEDGE DOES ‘VIGOROUSLY’ PROBE ALLEGATION LITTLE TO ADDRESS CONCERNS
By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net
FORT Charlotte MP Alfred Sears and St Anne’s MP Adrian White said yesterday that they support criminalising marital rape. Golden Isles MP Vaughn Miller’s views were less clear. He told reporters “rape is rape,” but said he did not want to discuss the matter until later. The parliamentarians were the latest to be asked
their views on the topic as the Davis administration weighs amending the Sexual Offences Act to make marital rape unlawful. “During the debate and when the debate comes before Parliament, I can state as the Member of Parliament for Fort Charlotte, that I support the criminalisation of rape in any circumstances,” Mr Sears, the Minister for Works and Utilities, said. SEE PAGE THREE
By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net WOMEN Free National Movement leaders yesterday called for police to vigorously investigate assault allegations involving a sitting Member of Parliament. A woman made a complaint to the police against
the MP on April 7, accusing him of rape and making death threats against her and her family. During a press conference yesterday, prominent women members of the FNM discussed the matter and the broader fight against domestic violence. Former FNM Senator SEE PAGE THREE
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ATLANTIS yesterday said it has not been swayed by Royal Caribbean’s pledge to hit an environmental “gold standard” as the cruise giant is “packing a lot of people” into its Paradise Island beach club’s 17 acres. Vaughn Roberts, the mega resort’s senior
vice-president of government affairs and special projects, told Tribune Business that Royal Caribbean’s promises not to construct any structures on or over the water - and to employ “a very sophisticated waste water management system” - for its $100m project had done little to address its long-standing concerns. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
MURDER SEES 22 PERCENT DECLINE IN FIRST QUARTER By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net THE murder rate dropped by more than a fifth in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year, according to Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander. On Monday in Trinidad and Tobago during a twoday symposium on violence in the region, he presented crime statistics showing the
COMMISSIONER of Clayton Fernander
Police
22 percent decline in the Bahamas. “This far for the year, we have recorded 35 (murders)
for the first quarter of the year,” Mr Fernander said. “You could see a decrease to compare with (2022). Around the same time, it was a total of 45, so you could see it decreasing.” The latest crime data comes after Allison Thompson, 35, and her 14-year-old daughter Trevorniqua were murdered over the weekend. Police are again trying to keep the number of
ALICIA WALLACE: ACTION ON RAPE ALLEGATION WOULD SHOW GOVT INTENT
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Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper