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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com Local
August 10th Statement by STB Chairman Joseph Darville: Save The Bays (STB) congratulates former Data Commissioner Sharmie Farrington-Austin on her brave and inspiring decision to run as an independent candidate in the next general election. Our membership well remembers her astute, timely and courageous comments in defense of our constitutional rights after STB’s private emails were shamefully disclosed in Parliament by senior government MPs without our permission. Farrington-Austin quite rightly warned the MPs in question and the country at large against the “dangerous” practice of obtaining private citizens’ correspondence and tabling it in the House of Assembly.
She cautioned MPs to remember that the public expects them to be held to the same standards as ordinary citizens and that no one is above the law. Farrington-Austin said of the unauthorized disclosure: “This, in my view, is a most dangerous trend and opens up the society to chaos. Citizens have a right to expect that their private communications would enjoy the protection afforded them under the laws of the country.” We welcomed and applauded her statements then. We praise them now perhaps more than ever at a time when, in defiance of a Supreme Court ruling, certain MPs are persisting in their misguided and reckless witch-hunt against STB, all in the name of defending the use of parliamentary privilege to infringe upon the fundamental rights of ordinary citizens. Under the circumstances, I am compelled, on behalf of STB, to demand that the government explain why Farrington-Austin no longer holds the post of Data Commissioner. According to news reports, she did not resign, but rather was dismissed from the position. The timing, of course, is highly suspicious. Could it be that this progressive individual –precisely the kind of honest and effective civil servant our people have been crying out for – has been punished for doing what was right? Has she been victimized, in the most cruel and cynical of fashions, simply for standing up for the privacy of ordinary citizens? Simply for doing her job? Save The Bays hereby officially calls on government to clarify the circumstances surrounding Farrington-Austin’s dismissal. If no response is forthcoming, we, along with the general public, can safely assume that justice is dead in The Bahamas and victimization alive and well under the current PLP administration. We also call upon all opposition parties to live up to their responsibility as would-be representatives of the people’s rights, and join STB in demanding a full explanation of what occurred.. In the meantime, the STB family wishes Farrington-Austin the best of luck in her political endeavors. Having already proven her mettle as an advocate for fundamental human rights, we believe she will make an outstanding representative for the good people of South Andros and a stellar presence in Parliament, where today, progressive voices are sorely needed.
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