The Tribune

TODAY’S developments in the allegations against Canadian businessman Peter Nygard make shocking reading.

Since American lawyers filed suit in a New York court last week more than 100 women have come forward either as witnesses to or victims of Nygard’s alleged reign of rape and perversion.

If all of these allegations prove to be true the stench will long lie over The Bahamas for seemingly allowing this abuse to continue for so many years.

In the filed suit the lawyers’ finger of blame for allowing Nygard to prey on young Bahamian women was pointed squarely at the PLP and Bahamian police claiming a cover up of his alleged crimes in return for certain ministers and officers lining their pockets with a share of his wealth.

PLP chairman Fred Mitchell of course sprang into action on Monday morning with a recorded message to the party’s supporters.

“Stay focussed. Eyes front. Straight ahead,” barked Mr Mitchell.

As ever the stones being thrown at the PLP, he insisted, are all part of a FNM-Save the Bays-Tribune conspiracy. Normally he’d have named Louis Bacon outright as the Financier-in-Chief of this conspiracy and Fred Smith as his attack dog but for once he left their names out. Maybe he’s getting forgetful as the years take their toll.

Mr Mitchell had some handy soundbites for his supporters - “The Devil was busy... a propaganda onslaught... irrelevant claims... Most of these alleged rapes happened when the FNM was in power.”

This last point is the most telling and disappointing.

What Mr Mitchell – who hardly mentions the alleged victims and the ordeal they claim they have suffered – is doing is simply wiping the PLP’s hands of having anything to do with Nygard’s alleged activities, instead pass it on to the governing party. If it happened at all, he’s saying, it wasn’t on the PLP’s watch.

Now, putting Mr Mitchell’s political game playing aside, there is something that needs addressing.

As Alicia Wallace writes today the minute the suit against Nygard became public knowledge virtually no one was surprised. We’d all heard the stories of Nygard’s wild parties – and that’s whether you are PLP or FNM, Mr Mitchell. You’d have to have been in quarantine for years to be ignorant of Nygard’s “pamper parties”.

So who did anything about these rumours over the decades? If they did nothing - policeman and politicians - why was this? Or did they simply not care, better to look the other way. Wouldn’t be the first time, would it?

The Tribune reported last summer how six women had made formal allegations of rape against Nygard but outside of The Bahamas our report attracted little attention. It was only when the alleged victims took it to New York that the world’s press woke up to the story.

The fact that today there are now dozens more alleged victims – and lawyers fear the final number could run into hundreds – is only going to stoke this fire up.

We have already called for a full government inquiry to be held but we accept this is going to be a long way off. Nygard will undoubtedly drag the current allegations through the US courts for years to come – just look at this record here over the alleged illegal dredging he carried out at Lyford Cay.

Any inquiry is going to have to wait until the US legal process is complete and Nygard’s guilt – or innocence – established.

In the meantime rather than comment on the veracity of the allegations Mr Mitchell and everyone else should do what The Tribune has simply done: report the facts as they develop and not try to spin them for your own agenda.

Remember it takes incredible courage for a woman to come forward and say they have been raped, knowing a new ordeal lies ahead in convincing a court they are telling the truth.

Dozens of women have now made that decision to accuse Nygard. Let’s concentrate on them.

Family can now try to move on

In remembering victims yesterday we at The Tribune finally saw closure on the murder of our former colleague, Ericka Fowler.

Her partner Leo Johnson - who stabbed her to death nearly 14 years ago in front of her mother and children - was jailed for 11 years.

The sentence reflected how the whole case has been handled since Ericka was killed in August, 2006.

For it to take so long to bring this matter to a close was unforgivable. We accept, for Johnson too, the years of having this issue hanging over him was unfair. In addressing sentencing following Johnson’s guilty plea to manslaughter, the defence had appealed for mercy and parole, the prosecution for 18 years in line with what the Director of Public Prosecutions believed was in line with sentencing guidelines.

Eleven years was Justice Renea McKay’s decision and we suspect this leaves no-one satisfied.

At least the matter is now closed and Ericka’s family can try and move on with their lives.