The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell apologised “unreservedly” yesterday to Claudia Edwards Bethel’s family and estate, but declined to say whether the former senior immigration officer who took custody of her under false pretences and raped her at his home while she was unlawfully detained was allowed to receive retirement benefits before leaving the public service.

His statement came after the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled on Thursday that the state was vicariously liable for Edwards Bethel’s unlawful detention and rape by former senior immigration officer Norman Bastian.

The case will now return to a lower court for damages to be assessed.

Mr Mitchell said the government accepts the ruling and condemned Bastian’s conduct.

“We wish to make it clear that the government of The Bahamas does not in any way support or condone his unlawful conduct,” he said.

Long Island MP Dr Andre Rollins, the opposition’s shadow minister for immigration, asked Mr Mitchell whether Bastian had been permitted to receive retirement benefits before his dismissal after the minister said Bastian had been retired from the public service in the public interest.

Mr Mitchell did not comment.

He said a multi-agency task force was established after the Davis administration took office to address oversight weaknesses within the security forces.

“The work of that task force has already resulted in changes that strengthen the processes,” he said. “The Minister of State will advance proposals shortly for consultation with all stakeholders. The officer, Norman Bastian, who perpetrated the wrong, has been retired from the public service in the public interest.”

Mr Mitchell’s statement went further than Attorney General Wayne Munroe’s response on Monday.

Mr Munroe acknowledged the Privy Council ruling and said the government would pay damages, but stopped short of apologising to Edwards Bethel’s family, saying “some things are more important than sorry.”

Edwards Bethel, a Jamaican woman who had been married to a Bahamian citizen since 2010, was arrested during a December 13, 2014 police raid at the Twilight Bar along with a group of Jamaican women.

Bastian lied to his superior to obtain custody of Edwards Bethel, falsely implying that a female immigration officer would accompany them.

He then drove her around New Providence before taking her to his home, where he raped her, detained her overnight, sexually assaulted her and raped her again the following morning.

Edwards Bethel died at Princess Margaret Hospital in May 2021, one day after giving birth to her fourth child, Emmanuel. She was 35.