Claims elements within the Govt. orchestrate charges against him
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - TOURISM MINISTER Lindsay Grant is not mincing words with the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Ppolice Force over allegations surrounding claims made against him from an incident that occurred at the Last Lap Bar and Restaurant in Bird Rock on Saturday (Jan. 8).
The Minister has called on the Police Force to either charge or exonerate him, as the allegations have neither moved forward nor it been dropped.
All of this comes as the buck has been passed between the Commissioner of Police, Hilroy Brandy, and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Valston Graham, over whose responsibility it is to lay charges or not.
Grant was allegedly caught on camera berating a police officer while in the Bird Rock area, and since then several charges have been publicly stated that could be laid against him.
In his first public comment on the incident, the Minister expressed confidence that he committed no breach and assured that he and his witnesses are ready to clear his name of any wrongdoing.
Grant had avoided speaking publicly about the matter, directing all media questions and queries to his attorney.
He however broke that silence yesterday (Mar. 5), stating that he remained quiet for “two long months to allow the legal process to take its course, and to date I am not aware of what is happening”.
“...I am therefore calling on the authorities either to charge me and allow me to have my day in court or exonerate me,” he noted.
Now, Grant believes that forces within the government are pushing for him to be arrested and charged.
“My information has led me to the inescapable conclusion that elements within the same Government in which I serve, are hard at work to not only orchestrate charges against me, but perhaps to achieve some narrow political gain by seeking to wrongfully implicate others,” Grant said.
The Minister also sought to address the inclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Shawn Richards in the police reports, which indicated that he was involved in the incident; a position that Grant vehemently denied.
Detailing what transpired, the Minister acknowledged that about two month ago he was involved “in an exchange of words with members of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force”, noting that the incident was videotaped by one of the officers involved.
According to media reports, the police were seeking to end a party at which the Minister was at for allegedly breaching COVID-19 regulations.
Grant apologised for his behaviour, pointing out that he acknowledged that he is being held at a higher standard because of his position. And against that backdrop, he pledged his continued support for the Police Force and other security agencies.
