ST GEORGE'S, Grenada (CMC):
THE GRENADA High Court has ruled in favour of Opposition Leader Tillman Thomas for the courts to hear and determine an application for judicial review of a ruling made during the Commission of Inquiry into bribery allegations against Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell.
Thomas had filed an application in the High Court after the sole Commissioner; Sir Richard Cheltenham had refused to allow Thomas' submission to cross-examine the Prime Minister during the Inquiry. Senior Counsel for the Commission, Dr Fenton Ramsahoye had argued that the law did allow him to grant the Leader of the Opposition a right to participate in the inquiry.
But Justice Davidson Baptiste ruled that the court has a right to hear and determine judicial review of the application submitted by the Leader of the Opposition.
VICTORY
"It's a victory of the Leader of the Opposition, step one in the procedure and now what is left for the substantive application to be heard," according to Ruggles Ferguson, one of the two attorneys representing Thomas.
The commission has been mandated to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the appointment of Eric Resteiner as a diplomatic representative of Grenada. It will also inquire into the criteria employed and the protocol governing the appointment of non-Grenadians as representatives of the island.
But the substantive issue is determining whether he had accepted US$500,000 as a bribe from Resteiner in consideration of his appointment as a diplomatic representative of Grenada.
The Commission will also conduct inquiries into a statement by Dr Mitchell that he received approximately US$15,000 from the German businessman as reimbursement for expenses incurred by him on behalf of a team from Grenada on official business to certain European countries and Kuwait in 2000.
