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Attorney General Describes Roughing Up As “Confrontation Between The Police And The Press”
“Confrontation” ?
Barbados didn’t see much of a “confrontation”. Barbados saw respected journalists being roughed up by thug police who had zero respect for the Barbados news media.
Barbados saw a newspaper editor down on the ground outside the hospital and pieces of cameras on the ground as a smiling bully in uniform pushed a television journalist.
Journalists are not “ordinary citizens” when they are covering public events. A free media is a defender of citizens’ rights and freedoms and the police should realise this if they cared about our democracy at all.
If the police have a disagreement with professional journalists covering a story, then talk and discussion should be the approach. Even if it means getting a senior officer out of bed to provide some measured leadership at the scene. Even if it means erring on the side of caution about the public interest. Even if it means waiting until senior police talk with senior media the next day.
The Attorney General would have us believe that these professional journalists were “impeding emergency procedures” at the hospital.
Garbage. We don’t believe it, and from what we’ve heard the evidence doesn’t support such a charge in the least. Which is why the government is in damage control mode.
Attorney General Dale Marshall also stated that it would be wrong to see the situation “as any attack on the freedom of the Press”.
How wrong he is!
The police physical attack on the three journalists perfectly reflected the government’s policy and attitude towards a free Barbados news media. The government has long provided the example and leadership in this area. The police were merely following the government’s example.
Which is why Barbados is not looking at this situation as an isolated incident.
Story Links
June 7, 2007 – The Nation News: AG: Police, Media Clash Regrettable
June 2, 2007 – BFP: Sources: Barbados Police Commissioner Dottin To Get Fat Retirement Package In Exchange For Taking The Fall
May 29, 2007 – BFP: Barbados Advocate Sides With Police, Not Journalists. Defends Government. Poo-poos Calls For Freedom Of Information Legislation
May 27, 2007 – BFP: Royal Barbados Police Thug Force – “We Do What Our Political Masters Order Us To Do – To Hell With Democracy & Duty”
May 27, 2007 – BFP: Response By Nation News Publisher Vivian-Anne Gittens “Weak. Not Good Enough. Lacks Leadership. Cowardly”
May 27, 2007 – BFP: Barbados Reporters Visit Queen Elizabeth Hospital – Arrive In Zimbabwe Courtesy Of Royal Barbados Police Force
19 Comments
June 6, 2007 at 12:43 pm
BFP, i understand that this story represents a pet peeve of yours. I also understand the importance of freedom of the press…
As a journalist i also understand shelf life. There is nothing more that can be said for this story. There is no freedom of the press in Barbados….acknowledged…how to effect freedom is not to beat this story to death but rather to continue your good work of highlighting the reasons why we need to change government, enact intergrity and other critical pieces of legisation and reshape the media in Barbados….
Press freedom in BArbados has been dead for a long time…we sympathize with you….but there is more to be said…
owen finds boys on the block to spend over a million dollars on but the chinese can find no labourers….Kensington was built with Predominantly(as far as i know) Barbadian labour but yet they is no labour so we need Chinese….we still do not know where Dr. Bailey is…What was the net profit or Loss form World Cup or When the prison will be ready…freedom of the press is paramount i agree but rescuing our country is supreme!
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Comment by BFP
Hello SHB
We understand your position about shelf life, but respectfully, we disagree. You are defeated – we are not until we give up.
Barbados Free Press will continue to hammer away at this and other fundamental rights and freedoms issues until we see real changes for our children.
Even now the world is watching Barbados through the VECO bribery story. The mainstream media are starting to pick up the story and they are crediting BFP fully. We just replied to an email from a television station in Alaska and another from a CBS News editor.
We will continue to shine our spotlight on the corrupt activities of certain people in Barbados until they feel the pressure of the international community.
Next up… Elections Integrity. Barbados has problems with ballot boxes and vote counting. Let’s restore integrity to our election system!
June 6, 2007 at 1:32 pm
look straight talk i think yall r going a bit mad cause while the qeh is a public health care place its no frigging place for reporters ,,pray tell what bout the poor sufferers there who want privacy why not a word on that
June 6, 2007 at 2:17 pm
LB:
Wha’ I dun said to got your licks?
June 6, 2007 at 3:36 pm
BFP…
i am by no means telling you not to carry on with your stories in the name of freedom of the press…what i am saying is that the story about the journalist at the hospital is not the best way to highlight the cause…journalists do not really belong in the A&E of a hospital…strictly speaking…in a crisis even PATIENTS are sometimes sent home to clear the casualty area so that the cases can be addressed….
do the veco story….do all the other stories….freedom of the press will be aided in this way. take your kudos for the veco story but i am saying do not use the hospital story to highlight freedom of the press…it is not the optimum example….
ofcourse it is just my humble opinion and i cannot tell you how to run your blog…keep on keeping on…
freedom of the press is only lost after the society is blinded as to what is happening…we in BArbados are not blind…give us some credit free press…
June 6, 2007 at 3:55 pm
This incident is only but a part of the breaking down of the freedoms and the rights of Barbadians, what about Owing and company not doing a single thing about the rich boys club in operation in Barbados?
That they allow these rich boys to setup barriers preventing people from accessing our beaches and use of public places only because they are so tied up and so in bed with this gang of rich folks.
Not one of them the politicians are prepared to fight for the ordinary citizen of this land if it crosses paths with any of the rich clan that is taking over this island with their money because the likes of Owing are in their hip pockets and are have been bought.
We now have a further development taking place on our shores which hotel in Holetown is now building a breakwater out to sea and where did this permission come from and why is this the case???
Lets watch and see who is involved with this permission and I am sure you will understand why the permission was granted, politics is a dirty game.
June 6, 2007 at 5:36 pm
talking about the dry subject of integrity and accountability in an abstract context without real examples is tantamount to watching paint dry on a wall.
Examples of abuse of power and secret deals are critical to Barbadians fully understanding why these transaction are seriously offside and how they impact the daily lives of our citizens.
For example, having an NIS loan portfolio in questionable government debentures and investments that are not independently restated each year at fair market value, is a form of blatant dishonesty that takes money out of every citizens pockets.
Keep up the good work BFP. On behalf of every citizen of Barbados, keep reminding us of all the things that need to be cleaned up. One day a citizens group interested in issues of accountability and transparency will start to tackle all the shortcomings.
June 6, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Have any person consider the rights of if the patients in that accident, as in if them wished to be seen in their time of suffering?
I never understand how media all go and get a photo of them who just die – it seems so goulish and this an’t too far from it either
June 6, 2007 at 6:06 pm
If I was in the care of the A & E at the QEH after an accident does that make me or my emergency, FAIR GAME OR ANY BUSINESS OF THE PUBLIC OF BARBADOS ? I certainly hope not !! The press has a right to their freedom of speech. The patients of any hospital, public or private must have rights as well, It’s an EMERGENCY FOR GODS SAKE!!! move on.
June 6, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Correct, Crossroads & Laughing Barbadian. Those press people had no right in the QEH – all up in people face in their time of great distress. Shocking that they even tried! Kudos to the Police for keeping them out of there.
June 6, 2007 at 6:20 pm
The incident at the hospital, and recent incidents involving the police, have to be seen in context. A climate exist in Barbados at the moment, in which ordinary citizens are distrustful of Administrators and Politicians, in particular.
The citizens – at least quite a few of them – feel that politicians have become so corrupted, that they are unable to make decisions which are in the public interest. The best course of action is often not taken, because that course does not give the best corrupted financial return.
You might ask, does that matter? of course it does, the accumulative effect of this dishonesty is that projects not suitable for Barbados are taken on, at great public expense. Rich individuals can build where they should not, and even allowed to erect barriers, blocking citizens access to the beaches.
This is not simply a matter of short term benefit to dishonest politicians, the result often is that policies are adopted which cannot be reversed, much to the detriment of future generations, in essence for a few dollars, they have sold the rights and privileges of our children and grandchildren.
The wealthy individuals who bribe them, have no respect for them, because they have allowed themselves to be bought. Since they are the elected leaders, these wealthy people have no respect for our country, and in turn for the “invisible people” who inhabit it. Why are we “invisible people”? because the politicians take no notice of us, we are not here.
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(1) Was someone’s privacy invaded at the hospital?
(2) Were there complaints about the media being at the hospital?
(3) Were the media in a place where hitherto was not accessible to them?
(4) Were the press men asked not to use cameras and they refused to do so?
(5) Was the casualty so overcrowded that the presence of the press men hindered/prevented medical staff from doing their jobs?
The above questions should be addressed before we take a view, events in themselves are best not taken in “isolation,” there is a climate that exists in Barbados at the moment, which causes people to react in given ways to situations, the action taken is often not on the merit of the situation, but on the belief that others would like them to react in a certain way at a given time, hence the inconsistency.
June 6, 2007 at 8:39 pm
yardbroom
good questions
but will there be any answers?
June 7, 2007 at 12:52 am
1) YES
2) YES
3) YES
4) YES
5) YES
June 7, 2007 at 1:25 am
crossroads
lets hear from the victims and nurses and doctors that were at the hospital at the time—they can put in their own two cents anonymously
the big public issues that must be balanced are privacy versus freedom of press versus the issue of public safety on our buses.
Oddly enough we haven’t heard a peep about the nature of the accident and the circumstances. Was excessive speed involved or are there other factors the citizens of Barbados should hear about? What does the police report say and is this not a public document?
June 7, 2007 at 7:43 am
crossroads
Due to the certainty with which you have replied, one can only assume you were either (a) a victim of the alledged invasion of privacy (b) a photographer/pressman (c) medical person at the hospital, present (d) someone at a senior level in the hospital, with authority to collate this information and received reports (e) or someone in Government to whom reports were sent.
Unless you are one of either (d) or (e) you are not in a position to give a definitive response, and even if you were (d) or (e), the person or persons against whom the allegations were made, would or should have had an opportunity to give their version of events.
The questions I have posed cannot be answered “truthfully” by one person, unless that person has an over-arching responsibility and is in a position to gather evidence.
Incidents of public concern are best answered, or responded to in a tentative nature, unless one is sure beyond reproach.
Over to you crossroads for a clarification, as to the basis on which you have made your response.
June 7, 2007 at 11:50 am
Could be
f) a well informed relative/friend of a,b,c,d & e.
g)none of the above
barbados society small ya know
June 7, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Crossroads
The problem I have with your response, is that because -with respect- a relative/friend of yours has given a version of events, that does not mean it is the truth. Regardless of how small Barbados is, the person/persons to whom an allegation has been made against, would/should have had an opportunity to give their version of events, without that your allegation cannot stand up as truthful.
June 7, 2007 at 12:45 pm
I can respect your opinion
June 8, 2007 at 4:54 am
[...] to the Q.E.H to report on it the night of the accident (if I’m not mistaken) and instead, became the story themselves after being roughed up by members of the Royal Barbados Police [...]
June 8, 2007 at 1:43 pm
[...] response to government statements following a police/media clash outside Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados Free Press writes: “Journalists are not ‘ordinary citizens’ when they are covering public [...]