The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

RIGHTS Bahamas chairperson Mona Agenor, her teenage daughter, and two other persons with Haitian roots were charged yesterday with being antagonistic towards immigration and police officers during a joint raid last month.

Agenor, 37, was charged before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis with four criminal charges stemming from allegations she acted unruly, cursed at officers and resisted lawful arrest when they stormed her house on July 31.

Her 18-year-old daughter, Eldeanna Monica Agenor, was charged with making threats of harm to Senior Immigration Officer Vonetta Darling-Flowers during the early morning incident.

Meanwhile, the elder Agenor's sister, 39-year-old Jacintha Murat-Vesilor, was charged with harbouring an undocumented migrant, namely Milande Joseph, on the date in question.

Vesilor's 22-year-old son Aubert Vesilor Jr, who has applied for Bahamian citizenship, was charged with obstructing Chief Immigration Officer (CIO) Harold Thurston and two other immigration officers, Sebastian Joyce and Corey Bonaby, from executing their duties.

Another teenager, 19-year-old Jamaine Grandoit, was charged yesterday with threatening to kill CIO Thurston, and obstructing Messrs Joyce and Thurston from conducting their duties on the date in question.

According to reports, at 4am on the date in question, the Department of Immigration as well as the Royal Bahamas Police Force's Southwestern Division and K-9 units launched joint operation "Rising Sun" in eight areas in southwestern New Providence.

The operation covered Flamingo Close, Jubilee Gardens, Venice Bay, Area 51 Haitian Village, Carmichael Road, Sir Milo Butler Highway, McKinney Drive and Bedrock Haitian Village off Bacardi Road, according to a press release from the Immigration Department.

Some 28 Haitian nationals were apprehended during the exercise. After further processing, 16 people were committed to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre (CRDC) for various immigration offences, including illegal landing and overstaying.

The elder Agenor was arrested by police and immigration officers around 5am that day. She and others were released from the Carmichael Road Police Station sometime after 10 that night.

The adult's charges included threats of harm, resisting arrest and obscene language, harbouring and obstruction. They each paid $1,000 police bail before they were released.

The DOI's press statement at the time of the incident did not refer to a specific incident; however, it warned the general public that it would not tolerate "blatant and deliberate assault on our officers while executing their duties".

All five accused denied the charges as they were read to them by Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis.

The police prosecutor did not object to bail. As a result, the elder Agenor was granted $2,000 bail with one suretor; her daughter was granted $800 bail with one suretor; Vesilor was granted $2,500 bail with one suretor while her son Aubert was granted $3,000 with one suretor.

Their trials are set for October 1 and 2.

Due to the nature of the threats of death charge, Grandoit, meanwhile, was denied bail and remanded into custody until October 2. One of his attorneys, Crispin Hall, told The Tribune he plans to apply to the Supreme Court for his bail.

Additionally, a 15-year-old boy was charged two weeks ago with four counts of threats of death and one count each of resisting arrest and assault stemming from the same incident. He pleaded not guilty and has since been granted $6,000 bail by Justice Gregory Hilton.

The Tribune understands that Mr Hall and his senior counterpart, Fred Smith, QC, plan to launch their own legal action against the government because of the incident, which they feel has resulted in the "malicious prosecution" of their clients.