BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – JOYLYN ROSS, the Guyanese national who was fined EC$3 000 for taking a cell phone into a polling booth, is back on her homeland but there are many unanswered questions to her departure and the reason(s) for it.
Ross, who winged out of St. Kitts with her three-year-old daughter on Saturday (Feb. 6), was arrested for entering a polling booth carrying a cell phone and making use of a cell phone in a polling booth. These charges were instituted against her on January 27, two days after she committed the offences at the Ivor Walters Primary School at Brown Hill in Electoral District Nevis Nine.
Ross was placed on EC$10 000 bail and could have been out of police custody by two sureties, but this was not allowed because her immigration status was not regularised. She was therefore remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison in St. Kitts, where she remained until February 1 before travelling back to Nevis to face trial on the following day.
At her trial, Ross was represented by Chesley Hamilton and fined $3 000 on the first charge while the second one was dismissed. However, she was again confined at the Charlestown Police Station because of her immigration status.
Prior to the trial, efforts were made to have her released by paying for a two-month extension of her stay on the island, but the Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Premier’s Ministry, Angelica Elliott, refused to grant the request.
Recently, when contacted by this media house, Ross recounted the incidents that led to her committing the offences and also her ordeal while incarcerated. She claimed that she was pressured into committing the act by Laughton Browne, popularly known as Laffy.
Ross said she had been living on Nevis for almost five years and was residing in Stoney Grove prior to moving to Hermitage for personal reasons, where she shared a home with a very good female friend. She also said it seemed that her former land-mistress did not appreciate her moving and fabricated a story about her not voting for the party in government.
Ross further informed this media house that she was requested by Elliott to visit her office, which she did, and was told by the PS that she did not like the life she was living. This meeting, Ross said, resulted in Elliott offering her an ultimatum.
“She told me that I either leave the island or I would be deported to Guyana. She gave me one week to make a decision. Ms. Elliott subsequently called me, and on my return to her office she asked me if I had made my decision and I told her it was up to her to decide. So she told me that I had until December 18 to leave the island. I then visited an official in the Nevis Island Administration and he saw that I had a valid work permit until December 31 and informed me that I was legally in the Federation and could not be sent back to Guyana at that time as Ms. Elliott said,” Ross contended.
She stated that on numerous occasions Browne would tell her who she should vote for whenever he sees her on the streets, or he would sometimes call her on the phone.
“He also told me on several occasions that he does not want to see me in the company of some individuals known to be supporters of a particular political party. He also warned me to ‘keep away from Big Neck because she is encouraging you all to vote for the CCM’. On one occasion he displayed his displeasure after he found out that my daughter had attended the birthday party of a popular politician on Nevis in December. He told me that he saw her picture on Facebook, and I told him I did not take my daughter to the birthday party but some friends had done so. He again warned me who to vote for or I would be sent back to Guyana,” Ross declared.
In response to why she committed the offence when it is known to be against the law, Ross said, “I wanted to prove that I did vote for the party so that I would not have to return to Guyana. I know that it was wrong for me to take a picture of my ballot but I never thought that I would have been caught in the act.”
Ross said that at about 6:00 a.m. on Polling Day she called Browne to take her to the polling station but he sent another man to chauffeur her there.
“I called him but he said he couldn’t come and he sent another man to take me to the polling station. He however reminded me who to vote for and that after voting I should go in the car and let the man take me to other polling stations and encourage all Guyanese to vote for the party of his choice,” she said.
Ross also stated that after she was caught and was standing next to the fence at the Ivor Walters Primary School, she called Browne to seek his help and he said, “I don’t want nobody to put me in trouble to go a jail.”
She further stated that while in custody at the Charlestown Police Station after the trial, she was led to believe that if the fine and airfare for her return to Guyana were paid she would have had some time to attend her personal affairs before departure.
Ross believed this was a ploy to get her out of the Federation before the Prime Minister would have returned from his trip to African. And also her relatives were told by the police that they had received threats and advised them to get her out of the Federation for her own safety.
“My cousin paid the fine and he bought the ticket. I was scheduled to leave the Federation on Wednesday, February 10, but the police ensured that the flight date was brought forward to Saturday, February 6; the day on which PM Douglas was expected back in St. Kitts,” Ross explained.
Ross’ cell phone was held by the police as exhibit from the day she committed the offence. However, when she was about to leave Nevis for St. Kitts under police custody, she asked for her phone but was told she could not have it because investigations were ongoing.
“I started to make a lot of noise because they did not want to give me my phone, and Magistrate Clarke came out and she told them to give it to me because the trial was over. I then used the phone to take a picture of my daughter. When I checked to see how she looked, I found that the picture I had taken of my ballot was deleted. I also noticed that the call I had made to Laffy early on Polling Day was also deleted,” Ross said.
She was transported to St. Kitts along with her daughter on the same day and would have had to sleep at the Basseterre Police Station was it not for a senior officer, who took her into his custody on signature and accommodated them at his home until the morning of her departure.
In analysing the situation, it is logical to conclude that despite Ross was guilty of committing the offences, Browne too should have been taken before the court if the young woman were telling the truth.
One of the questions that therefore needs to be answered is – Why was Browne not investigated and, if he were, why were the findings not made public as it was in Ross’ case? Additionally, why was the second charge (Making use of a cell phone in a polling booth) dismissed or withdrawn if Ross had admitted to taking a picture of her ballot? Is it that someone did not want the evidence presented in court?
There are also many other questions that need to be answered, and some of them are: Since the cell phone was in police custody as exhibit from the time the offences were committed, how did the picture taken of the ballot deleted? Who other than the police had access to the cell phone? If it were a fact that she had a telephone conversation with Browne before going to the polling station, why were his phone numbers deleted from her cell phone? The police are mandated to serve and protect; therefore, if they had known of threats and believe that Ross was in danger, why did they not investigate and apprehend the originator(s) of the threats? Why was her flight date brought forward? Why they did not wait until the Prime Minister was made aware of the situation, when it was known that she had earlier informed him of Elliott’s decision?
Ross had a valid work permit that expired on December 31, 2009. She was issued a voter’s identification card following her registration earlier that year. It is also known that some non-nationals are issued work permits long after January in each year. Therefore, why was she allowed to vote when it was known by the Permanent Secretary and staff members of the Federal Office on Nevis that her status was not legalised? Was there any other non-national who voted in the Federal Elections while his/her status was not legalised?
Conclusively, without Ross being in the Federation, the truth can still be revealed. This therefore calls for a thorough investigation. And the investigation should not be conducted by any individual or group autonomous to the Police Force or either of the two political parties on Nevis, but by an independent body from civil society. The investigation team can then solicit LIME to produce a record of all the calls made by Ross on Monday, January 25, 2010 and even before then.
