… That D.P.P. and police will handle criminal charges

A civil suit to recover money is one thing; a criminal prosecution in which people can go to jail is another. And while Barrow was more cautious in his assessment of the case against Said Musa and Ralph Fonseca arising from the diversion of those same Venezuelan millions, he still expressed confidence that the legal system is up to the task.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“The opinion is in that crimes were committed, that there is the kind of material that compels criminal charges being levelled. This is the stage though, at which you must go to the direction of public prosecutions, respecting his constitutional authority and the decision that he has to make ultimately. I am satisfied that the police can move now but I don’t think that you give the file or you give the opinion that we have to the police and hope they will move without any reference to the Director of Public Prosecutions because constitutionally, he can stop a prosecution. So I don’t think you want to move without him being on board. For that reason, you also can’t move without his being on board because ultimately it’s his office that will either have to prosecute itself or monitor or perhaps supervise the prosecution.”

Ann-Marie Williams
“Will you bring in a special prosecution?”

Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“That’s what I’m saying that I think after discussions with him that sort of decision will have to be made. For me it is possible to do the entire thing locally, that’s the preferable route. But I think this has such huge policy implications and we need to be so careful that there are no mis-steps, that if it turns out that we need a prosecutor from abroad I’m certainly prepared to do that.”